


First Times and Second Chances

by DizzyDrea



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, Dubious Science, F/M, Fix-It, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-07 13:23:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19210318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: In an alternate universe, Chuck Kawalsky and Charlie O'Neill survived their fates to fight another day. But on a mission gone wrong, they dial home only to find themselves in another SGC, facing the one thing they never thought they would: their loved ones, alive and well. The fallout from this could be spectacular, or it could be the best thing that's ever happened to all of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story about ten years ago. I abandoned it at some point, though I can't remember why. This year, I decided to go through my WIP folder and pull out a few stories to post for EAD. As I was reading through this one, I fell in love with it all over again, and decided that I'd finish it. The story is pure, unadulterated fan service. The fix-it to end all fix-its. I will not apologize for any of it. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do.
> 
> Disclaimer: Stargate and all its particulars is the property of MGM, Gekko, Double Secret, Acme Shark and a lot of other people who aren’t me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

The alarm blared into the quiet of a Monday morning, causing General Jack O'Neill's head to pop up from the report he was reading. His mental rolodex flipped through the status of the base and his teams on automatic. SG-1 was not currently deployed, but SG-2 and Dave Baldwin's team—SG-13—were both on the same planet, doing a survey. There were a couple of other teams offworld, but none on potentially dangerous missions. And no one was scheduled for a check-in for at least two more hours.

He could hear Sergeant Walter Harriman's voice through the PA system, urgent but not panicked. "Unscheduled offworld activation!"

Jack sighed and stood up. It was never a good sign when the week began with an unscheduled visit. It could very well be one of their allies, making contact for entirely benign reasons, but in Jack's experience, it was more likely to be a team coming in hot due to an unscheduled run-in with the Goa'uld.

He made his way across the briefing room and down the stairs, settling into his usual place behind Harriman to await information on just who or what they were facing.

"Incoming wormhole from P2X-388, sir," Harriman reported without prompting.

Jack raised an eyebrow. He was constantly amazed by exactly how much his people thought he'd actually retained from his experiences with the Ancient database, especially the addresses he'd entered. He didn't remember a whole lot from those experiences, but what he did retain was seared into his brain in bright Technicolor. 

The 'gate addresses hadn't been one of those things.

"We don't currently have any teams deployed to that planet," Harriman supplied.

Jack nodded. He didn't think so, but somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

"Jack."

He turned and found Daniel Jackson striding up, Sam Carter hot on his heels. 

"Daniel, Carter." He looked behind them, noticing immediately they were one short. "Where's Teal'c?"

Daniel bobbed his chin in the direction of the 'gate room, and Jack caught sight of him entering with the MPs, surrounding the 'gate with weapons drawn. Just as the last of the security team entered the room, the 'gate began to spark, as if it were being overloaded. The men pulled back, flattening their backs against the wall as they tried to get as far from the sparking as possible.

"He was in the gym when the alarm went off," Daniel said as Sam stepped up to the console to try to identify the problem. "He said something at breakfast about sparring with some of the Marines."

"Any idea why the 'gate's sparking like a live wire?" Jack asked.

"Looks like a power surge," Sam said, shaking her head as she turned to address the General. "We haven't seen that since the early days of the program. Technically, it's not supposed to do that."

"That's not reassuring at all, Carter," Jack said.

"Sir, I'm getting an IDC," Harriman said, interrupting Sam's explanation.

Jack frowned. "I thought you said we didn't have any teams on -388?"

"We don't," Sam said. She moved to stand beside Harriman, leaning over to read the display, her eyes flicking through the information and absorbing it quickly. "It's an older code—" She stood up abruptly, looking at him with round eyes.

"What?"

"Sir, it's Kawalsky's code."

"How's that possible?" Daniel asked. "I thought we'd locked all those old codes out of the system."

"We did," Jack said. He could feel the uneasiness roll through him. This could easily be a trick, an attempt to gain a foothold at the SGC. It'd been tried before, with limited success. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was the case. If whoever it was wanted them to open the front door, why use an out-of-date code from a man who'd been dead for nearly eight years? "Open the iris."

"Sir!" 

"Jack, do you really think that's wise?" Daniel asked, cutting across Sam's exclamation.

"If someone wanted to invade us, why use a code we're guaranteed to be suspicious of?"

Sam frowned, but Daniel looked more sanguine. "Right," he said.

"Besides," Jack went on, "this is what those Marines train for." He looked to the Sergeant, nodding his head once. "Close the 'Gate Room doors and send the 'all clear', Walter."

"Yes, sir," Harriman said. 

He placed his hand on the scanner and waited for it to recognize his authorization even as he hit the switch to close the doors. The iris shifted, pulling back to reveal the familiar shimmering pool of blue at the event horizon. Below them, Teal'c looked up, eyebrow raised. Jack gave the faintest shrug of his shoulders. He was playing a hunch, hoping like hell he wasn't being played in return.

No one moved for several long seconds as they waited for something to happen. Finally, the event horizon rippled, and two people came backing down the ramp, guns drawn, watching the wormhole in front of them as if they expected someone to be following.

"Shut it down!" one of the men who'd just come through barked, just as a staff blast slapped the wall, sending the security detail diving for cover.

Harriman spared a short glance at Jack, who nodded quickly. The sergeant's hand shot out, slapping the iris control with more force than strictly necessary. The iris rotated into place, and behind that they could all hear the telltale thud of something hitting the metal without fully reintegrating.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. How bad could it be if their unscheduled offworld activation had only turned up two men, even if they were being shot at? 

They were both dressed in the familiar olive green SGC utilities under standard-issue tac vests. Both men were carrying what appeared to be P90s, and the patches on their jackets suggested they were both part of SG-1, though from the back even Jack could tell they weren't any of the guys currently assigned to the Stargate Program, much less anyone on SG-1.

And then the two men turned around and chaos erupted.

~o~

Charles Kawalsky had been in plenty of fucked-up situations in his time. Fucked-up had become a sort of standard operating procedure at the SGC in the years since he'd joined the program. He'd been snaked once, seen others snaked, watched a sun go nova, blown up multiple mother ships, and had even watched as his best friend had been slowly killed by an alien database downloaded into his brain.

None of that had in any way prepared him for what he saw when he turned around.

Arrayed around them were no less than a dozen Marines, their weapons pointed directly at him and his second in command. That, in and of itself, wasn't a surprise. They'd 'gated in hot and unscheduled; standard operating procedure dictated that the SGC scramble a security detail to the 'gate room, just in case.

No, what really took the cake today was the fact that he was staring at the First Prime of Apophis, wearing the standard issue SGC utilities and pointing a P90 at them.

On instinct, he raised his gun, pointing at the most apparent threat in the room. To his great satisfaction, the kid beside him did the same. There was a lot of shouting at that point, and to be fair, he thought maybe he'd done his fair share, but when the dust settled, they were still in a Mexican standoff, everyone still pointing their guns at everyone else, and no one showing any signs of giving up.

To his left, the blast door slid open, and Kawalsky breathed a sigh of relief. He'd always trusted General Hammond; hopefully, the man could explain why he was facing down a First Prime and his own men.

Except that the man who strode through the door wasn't General Hammond. It was a ghost. A ghost wearing a General's star. Kawalsky shook his head, trying to make that make sense.

"Jack?" The General winced, and Kawalsky frowned. "Jack, what's going on here?"

_Why aren't you dead?_ he wanted to ask, but thought that might be pushing it. Beside him, he could hear the Lieutenant's quietly muttered _what the fuck?_ He couldn't agree more.

"You tell me," Jack said. 

"Look, I don't know what kind of game this is, but it's not funny," Kawalsky said, angry now. "We just barely escaped a bunch of angry Jaffa, and when we get back, we're being threatened by—him! And you—I can't even explain you!"

He couldn't help a threatening glare at the First Prime, but if the Jaffa was bothered by it, he didn't show it. And no one else seemed bothered by the fact that he was there. It was all giving him a headache. All he really wanted to do was get a shower and climb into a bottle of whiskey. And not necessarily in that order.

"Kawalsky."

The familiar voice drew his attention away from the Jaffa and back to Jack, but it wasn't his old friend who'd spoken. Standing beside Jack, and looking like he belonged in green utilities and new glasses, was a man he hadn't seen in years.

"Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel smiled. "Major. It's good to see you again."

"You too," Kawalsky said, unable to resist returning the smile with one of his own. "And it's Lieutenant Colonel, now. I haven't seen you in a couple of years. What happened? You get tired of going native?"

"Um," Daniel said, his expression going sheepish. "Maybe we could take this someplace else?"

"Sure," Kawalsky said, shrugging. He shifted his gun slightly, causing the security detail to refocus their aim on him. "Hey! Call off the dogs, okay? It's me."

"You'll have to forgive them, Colonel," Daniel said, stepping forward. Jack's hand shot out, grabbing for Daniel's arm. The two men shared a silent conversation, a long look passing between them before Jack let go and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. Daniel refocused on Kawalsky, raising his hands in reassurance. "You'll have to forgive them. You see, you've been dead for nearly seven years. It's like looking at a ghost."

"I—what?"

A cold shiver slid down his spine. If Daniel was right—and he had no reason to suspect the man might not be—he'd died right around the founding of the Stargate Program. Which was obviously impossible, but it gave him a better idea of what he was facing.

Beside him, the Lieutenant shifted, leaning closer even as the MPs followed with their guns. "What's going on, sir?"

Kawalsky heaved a sigh. "Kid, I think we're in an alternate universe."

~o~

Sam Carter had watched the whole scene unfold from the Control Room as she tried to figure out why the 'gate had sparked so badly. She hadn't been wrong; they'd added additional dampers and transistors to buffer the power the departure 'gate sent through, precisely to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

Of course, there were other explanations for what had happened, and as the two men who'd come through the 'gate had turned around, she'd known at once what the most likely answer would be.

"Solar flare?" 

"Maybe, but I'll have to look at the 'gate logs to be sure," Sam said as she watched security taking the two men away. The General had asked for an explanation, and while she didn't have a complete one, she was fairly certain she was right.

"But wouldn't that send them back to their point of origin?" Daniel asked.

Sam shook her head. "Theoretically. But we're talking about a phenomenon that we don't really understand, so anything's possible."

"The last time this happened we went back in time, and we ended up back where we started," Daniel said. "Clearly, that's not what happened here."

"No, it's not." Sam's eyes drifted to the 'gate room, and the memory of Charles Kawalsky standing there, alive and whole. There'd been many nights, after that first mission, when she'd wished things had gone differently, wished that she'd have done things differently so they could have spared Kawalsky his fate. It was futile, but she couldn't help it. He'd been a good man, and didn't deserve what happened to him. And then there was the young Lieutenant. He was familiar to her; maybe she'd passed him the last time she'd visited the Academy. It was disconcerting, like a word on the tip of her tongue that she couldn't quite remember. 

"This is not the first time we have encountered an alternate Charles Kawalsky."

All eyes swung to Teal'c as he joined them in the Control Room.

"But that Kawalsky came through the Quantum Mirror," Daniel pointed out. "This one came through the front door, so to speak."

"Is it not the same Charles Kawalsky?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel shrugged. "He reacted about like you'd expect if he were seeing a ghost, although he didn't seem to have any idea who Teal'c was."

Sam swung her gaze back to the General. "Are you sure it's him?"

Jack winced. "It's him. At least, some version of him." He rubbed a hand over his face. "Oy. I hate this shit, Carter."

"Yes, sir," she said. She could sympathize. "Where are we going to put them?"

"Medical, to start with," Jack said. "I want the Doc to scan them both, make sure they haven't been snaked. If they're clear, we'll put them in separate interview rooms." He took a deep breath. "I'll talk to Kawalsky. Daniel, I want you to talk to the kid. Carter, I need you to get to work on this. If they _did_ come through from an alternate universe, we need to know if we can send them back."

"Yes, sir."

"Daniel, care to join me?" Jack asked. He headed for the door, not waiting for a reply

Daniel nodded; he laid a hand on Sam's arm as he passed, squeezing gently in sympathy before he followed the General out of the Control Room, Teal'c trailing faithfully behind.

~o~


	2. Chapter 2

~o~

The door to the interview room opened, and the young Lieutenant stood up, hoping that it'd be the man he hadn't seen in two long years. It wasn't him, but maybe that was for the best; he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't make a fool of himself. It had been two years, after all.

"Doctor Jackson, right?" the young man asked as he sat down.

The other man smiled as he pulled out the chair across from his and settled in. "Call me Daniel."

"Okay, Daniel."

"Well, your scan was clear, so you're not a Goa'uld," Daniel said.

"Didn't think I was," the Lieutenant said, smiling. "What happens now?"

"Now, we talk," Daniel said. "You obviously know who I am. What's your name?"

"2nd Lieutenant Charles Elliot O'Neill."

Daniel sat staring at him for a couple of long minutes. Charlie fidgeted under the intensity of the stare, but he tried not to look away. Judging by the looks passing between the two men, it was obvious that Daniel was a good friend of his Dad's. This might be his only chance to find out about the man who wore his father's face in this universe.

Daniel shook his head, finally coming out of his fugue state. "I'm sorry. That was just… a bit shocking."

"I take it we've never met," Charlie said.

"No," Daniel said. There was a sad smile on his face as he spoke that made Charlie think he was probably reliving old memories. "We've never met. You—uh, the Charlie from this universe—he died. When he was eleven."

"How—what happened?"

He knew it wasn't from something like cancer, if the way Daniel's face was pinching was any indication. Still, he wasn't prepared for the shock of Daniel's words.

"He shot himself," Daniel said quietly. "With his father's gun."

"Oh my god," Charlie whispered. He rubbed a hand over his face, leaning back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. When he went on, his voice was subdued. "When I was eleven, my folks left me at home while they went to the mall. Dad and I had been talking about going out to the gun range so I could learn to shoot, but Mom hadn't said yes yet." Charlie dropped his head, smiling wistfully at Daniel. "I knew she would, eventually. We just hadn't talked her around yet. So, that day, they went to the mall and left me at home. I snuck into my parents' bedroom and pulled out the gun."

"You knew where Jack kept it?" Daniel asked.

"'Course I did," Charlie said. "He'd put it in the same spot in his closet every time he came home from a deployment." He shrugged, giving an unapologetic smile. "Anyway, I pulled it out, just to touch it, get a feel for how heavy it was. I was pointing it at the picture above my parents' bed when I squeezed too hard on the trigger."

Daniel winced. "Bet that was a bit of a shock."

"You're telling me," Charlie said. "My aim wasn't all that great, either, because instead of putting a hole in the picture, I put a hole in the window. Scared the shit out of myself, too. So, I packed up the gun and put it back. Never said a word to my Dad."

"Didn't he notice the hole in the window?"

"Yeah." Charlie smiled. "He had a new one installed, and a week later, we went down to the range for my first lesson. He never said anything, but I think he knew."

"I'm glad there's a universe out there where you didn't die," Daniel said quietly. "It… broke your Dad, a lot, losing you. When I met him, he was a shell of a man. I'm not sure how he's going to react, knowing that you're the son he lost all those years ago."

"If it makes you feel any better, looking at him is like looking at a ghost for me," Charlie said.

Daniel frowned. "Why?"

"My Dad died two years ago," Charlie said, shrugging. "He had an Ancient database downloaded into his brain. Turns out he's good, but not that good."

"Two years ago?" Daniel asked. "What planet was this?"

"P3X-439, I think," Charlie said. "I wasn't in the program yet, but I looked it up after I joined. They were supposed to retrieve it, but something went wrong and it grabbed Dad's head instead. Thor was out of touch, and the Tok'ra couldn't help, so he died."

"Y—Jack went through something similar here, too," Daniel said. "But it was more like six months ago, and we were able to put him in stasis until Thor arrived."

"Wow," Charlie said. "So it's true, this whole thing with alternate universes."

"Sam would know better than I do, but essentially, yeah."

Charlie perked up. "Sam Carter?"

"Yes," Daniel said slowly. "Why?"

"Are she and my Dad still married?"

Daniel just sat there, blinking at him. "Um, no. They're not married. Sam's been Jack's second in command since the beginning of the program. It's against regulations for them to—"

"Bullshit," Charlie said, not at all sorry when Daniel threw him a quelling look. "Doesn't General Hammond have any pull? Or is he gone, too?"

"General Hammond's still with the program," Daniel said. "He's Jack's boss, head of Homeworld Security now."

"Well, I don't know about your Hammond, but my Uncle George pushed through a change to the frat regs back at the beginning. Dad said he knew right away the situation would become, and I quote, 'worse than a high school prom' if they didn't amend the regs right away, but he didn't want any special favors."

Daniel chuckled. "That sounds like your Dad. Except in this universe, General Hammond took Jack and Sam at their word and didn't push for a change to the regulations."

"Maybe you could ask Uncle George for him," Charlie said.

"And why would I do that?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Charlie sighed. "Because my Dad deserves a little bit of happiness, and I know Sam was able to give that to him." He paused as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Unless my Mom's still alive in this universe?"

"Alive?"

"She was killed in a car crash, when I was twelve," Charlie said. He dipped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. It was still hard to talk about sometimes, even all these years later. "I guess that's why Sam and I bonded so well. She knew exactly what it felt like to lose your mother."

"Yes, she does," Daniel agreed quietly. "But to answer your question, Sarah is still alive. She and your Dad divorced not long after—do you know about the first mission to Abydos?"

"As much as the report says," Charlie said. "I know you were on it, and Colonel Kawalsky and Dad. They never talked about it, and you didn't come back with them, so I only know that they blew up Ra's mothership before they gated back home."

"Ah," Daniel said. "Well, that's pretty much what happened. Except that, when Jack got home, it was to find divorce papers waiting for him. After you—after what happened, they drifted apart, I guess you could say."

"So, my Mom's alive?" Charlie asked. "Can I see her?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Charlie," Daniel said, not unkindly. "Providing we can recreate the conditions that landed you here, we'll be sending you back to your universe. It might do more harm than good for her to meet you. Plus, she's not really cleared to know anything about the program."

"Yeah," Charlie said, sighing resignedly. He'd known it was a longshot, but he had to ask. "Could I see my Dad?"

Daniel smiled. "Now that I might be able to arrange."

~o~

Jack took a deep breath as he reached for the knob to open the door. He wasn't exactly eager to go inside, considering what was waiting for him. Or rather, who was waiting for him.

If he'd thought it was bad the last time a Charlie Kawalsky had come through from an alternate universe, this was somehow worse. At least last time, he'd been able to send that one home, albeit to his death. And what was it about his life that he could say this: each time he'd met a Charlie Kawalsky, the man had died?

Jack bit back a sigh. The airman standing guard outside Kawalsky's room had started shifting on his feet, a clear sign that he was concerned with why the General would be standing outside the room, basically stalling. Well, the interview wasn't going to happen with him standing on this side of the door. He turned his head and gave Teal'c—who'd followed him and stationed himself across from the interview room—a brief nod, receiving one in return. Then, he flashed a smile at the airman before turning the knob and pushing through the open door.

Kawalsky stood up, cocky smile still in place.

"Somebody made you a General, huh?"

Jack winced. "Wasn't my idea. You know me: resist responsibility until the bitter end."

He took a seat across the table from Kawalsky, leaning forward on his arms. Kawalsky settled in opposite him with a grin. "I call bullshit on that. You're a better leader than you've ever given yourself credit for being. Remember that thing in Afghanistan?"

They stared at each other for the space of a few heartbeats. Jack did remember Afghanistan, only too well. Still, it was strange, sharing that memory with a man who, despite appearances, was a stranger to him.

"Right," Kawalsky said, shaking his head. "So, what's the deal? Are we gonna get shipped off to Area 51 for 'further examination'? Or are you gonna try to send us home? 'Cuz I gotta tell ya, the hospitality around here sucks."

Oh yeah, that was the Charlie Kawalsky he knew, no doubt about it. Jack couldn't hide the smile, or the relief he felt at knowing that.

"Carter's working on it," he said, waving his hand. "If anyone can figure it out, she can."

"Carter, huh?" Kawalsky said. His smile slid into a smirk as he leaned back in his chair. "You're calling your wife 'Carter' these days?"

"Wife?" Jack asks, eyebrow raised. What he really wanted to do was either yell at the top of his lungs or do a happy dance, but he settled for the eyebrow. "What is it with all these alternate realities where we're always married to each other?"

Kawalsky frowned. "You're not married?"

"Nope," Jack said, popping the 'p' just for effect.

"Huh."

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you still look a little like you've seen a ghost."

"You're not wrong," Kawalsky said. "Where I come from, you're dead."

"Baal's Pleasure Palace?" Jack asked, thinking that was the logical point of divergence.

"That was you?"

"You mean, that was you?"

"Yeah." Kawalsky's voice was tight, his eyes pinched. "I got sick—"

"With an Ancient flu bug, so I had to get—"

"Snaked to save my life." Kawalsky blinked. "Damn. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, much less my best friend. Yu rescued you?"

"Sort of," Jack said. "Daniel kinda broke the glowy-people rules and pointed Teal'c in the right direction. He called Yu."

"Yeah, about that," Kawalsky said, leaning forward. "What's with the First Prime wandering around the base? Shouldn't he be somewhere being dissected?"

"Teal'c's been a valuable ally," Jack said. "He helped us escape from Apophis' palace on that first mission to Chulak."

"Wait, you mean Apophis captured you?" Kawalsky leaned back, shaking his head. "You must be slipping."

"You didn't get captured?"

Kawalsky shook his head. "General Hammond delayed the mission a day, just to make sure we had all the intel we were gonna need—a strategy you agreed with, I might add—then sent us to scope out the planet. By the time we got there, everyone was gone."

Jack winced. "What about Sha're?"

"The Tok'ra captured and de-snaked her, then sent her back to Abydos. That's how we made contact with them."

"Huh."

Jack was actually surprised at how different things were. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know how he—the other him—had died. It might be too weird. Or turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that was the last thing he needed.

"So, you're here."

"Hey, wasn't my idea, buddy." Kawalsky shook his head, accepting the change in topic with the ease born of familiarity. 

"Well, Carter's gonna ask, so care to tell me how exactly it happened?"

Kawalsky sighed. "We were supposed to be doing recon on P2X-388. The MALP had detected a possible source of naquadah, so we gated in, but apparently we weren't the only ones interested."

"Jaffa," Jack said, nodding. "They didn't show up on the MALP?"

"No," Kawalsky said. "We figured they'd been there for a while. I left Delmas and Smith at the 'gate, so when we ran across the Jaffa, I radioed them to dial home and not leave the door open. When the kid and I got to the 'gate, we dialed home like normal, and wound up here."

"You didn't notice anything strange?" Not that Jack would know what strange would be, but he figured he should ask.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Kawalsky said. "Look, I know this is weird, and if I could have avoided it, I would have. But you have to admit, it was nice to see me again, right?"

Jack smiled. "Yeah, it's good to see you again."

"Well, there you go."

Jack only hoped it was that simple.

~o~

Jack pushed the door open and stepped out, amusement drawing a sigh out of him. Daniel straightened up from where he'd been holding up a slice of wall next to Teal'c. "So, it's Kawalsky, right?"

"Yeah, it's Kawalsky," Jack said, nodding. "At least, some alternate universe version of him."

"Did he say how he managed to survive when ours didn't?"

Jack winced. "He said they waited a day, firmed up their intel. By the time they got there, everyone had cleared out."

Daniel frowned. Jack knew he was wondering if his own impatience to get to Sha're had pushed the SGC into taking action before they were prepared, because he'd had the same thought a time or two. They'd gained Teal'c as an ally, but at what cost? 

"So, what about the kid?" Jack asked into the silence.

"Um, he's—"

"Your son is a fine officer," Teal'c said.

"Chip off the old block, eh?"

Daniel and Teal'c shared a raised-eyebrow look, but it was Daniel who spoke. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew, Daniel," Jack said. His reply was flip, but there was a pinch in his expression that gave away exactly what he thought about all of it. "You think I wouldn't recognize my own son?"

Daniel winced. "He asked to see you."

Jack's lips thinned into a straight line. He stood for a moment, hands in his pockets, eyes darting around the corridor. He could walk away, pretend like the kid was nothing to him, but that wouldn't be fair to the kid. Or himself, if he was being totally honest. He _needed_ to see the kid as much as the kid probably _needed_ to see him. Firming his resolve, he turned and opened the door to the room holding his son and stepped inside.

~o~

Jack let the door fall quietly shut behind him and just stood for a moment, watching the young man across from him. 

Charlie.

His son.

Alive and well, and apparently following in his father's footsteps. He felt an overflow of pride in his chest, for all that this kid had been able to do that his son hadn't, even as the pain of loss surged forward again.

Charlie was sitting with his head pillowed on his arms, obviously oblivious to the world around him. Jack felt another pang of sorrow, at how much it must be hurting the kid, knowing that there was a man within reach who both was and wasn't his father. And that thought brought a stabbing pain in his head as he tried to sort out the whole alternate universe thing.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, he pushed that aside as he cleared his throat. An amused smile teased at his lips as he watched Charlie jump up from the table, his chair clattering behind him.

"Dad!" he practically shouted as he scrambled to attention, then, "Sir!"

"Charlie," Jack said. He wanted to go over and fold the kid into the biggest hug he could, but he held back. He wasn't really the father Charlie had lost, and Charlie wasn't really his son, and he had to remember that.

"It's good to see you," Jack said. He took in the stiff posture and the way Charlie was carefully not looking at him, but rather at a point somewhere over his left shoulder, and winced. "At ease, kid. For cryin' out loud."

Those words seemed to melt the kid, because he relaxed back into something a little more slouchy than parade rest as a smile lit his face. Standing like this, with his boyish good looks and the charm of his smile, Jack felt the guilt wash through him once more. But it was dulled by time and distance, so he set it aside. No sense torturing himself over things he couldn't change.

"It's good to see you, too, Sir," Charlie said. "It's… been a while."

"So I heard," Jack said. He made no move to sit down, and neither did Charlie. Neither of them looked especially comfortable, which didn't surprise Jack. What did one say to the dead son who was standing in front of you, clearly not dead?

The silence stretched as the two men looked at each other. Up close, Jack could now see that Charlie had a lot of his mother in him. His smile, his hair, which had lightened to a sandy blonde more like his ex-wife's than his. He was tall like Jack—like they'd always imagined he would be—and had the brown eyes typical of an O'Neill. It was like looking at a younger version of himself.

Jack shook off those thoughts. He so didn't want to remember that there was a mini-me running around the planet. He'd given permission to save the kid, but he really didn't want to contemplate the consequences.

"So, Air Force, huh?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, his smile growing. "Graduated top ten; managed to beat my Old Man at something."

Jack chuckled. "And how would you know that?"

"I checked," Charlie said. "You graduated 25th in your class. All that bullshit about not having any idea what Sam's talking about is just that: bullshit."

"Carter likes to feel useful," Jack said, shrugging. "Besides, if I let on that I have any idea at all what she's talking about, she'd still be talking a week later. Not something we usually have time for."

"Sure," Charlie said, smile still in place. "Whatever you say, Dad."

Both men froze. Jack winced as he saw the pained look crossing his son's face. And it _was_ his son in the room with him, despite the fact that they were from two different universes. The son he'd believed he would never see again. And if it weren't for the Stargate and alternate universes and science he wished he didn't understand, he probably wouldn't see the kid again after today.

He was crossing the room before he'd even made the decision, drawing the young man who was and wasn't his son into his arms. Charlie stood stock still for a moment before he melted into the embrace. He laid his head on Jack's shoulder, his hands gripping the back of Jack's shirt like he was afraid his father was going to disappear any second. 

Jack could feel the kid's breath on his neck, the steady beat of his heart in his chest. Tears burned at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Charlie took a few hitching breaths, swallowing hard a time or two as if to control his own emotions.

"I've missed you, you know?" Charlie mumbled into his neck.

Jack sighed, shifting his head to drop a kiss into Charlie's hair. "I know, kid. I've missed you, too."

They stood like that for a few moments, nothing but the two of them and a moment that shouldn't have been possible, but one that Jack wouldn't trade for anything. Finally, Charlie pushed back, taking a step away, but still firmly within arm's reach.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked as he brushed away the few tears that had escaped his control.

"Now, we wait for Carter to do her thing," Jack said, smiling softly. "In the meantime, you want a tour?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Dad, I work here, remember?"

"And do you have an Xbox hooked up to the screen in the briefing room?"

"Does Sam know about this?" Charlie asked.

Jack winced. "What Carter doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Yeah, but it might hurt you," Charlie said.

His laughter at the panicked look Jack gave carried out into the corridor.

~o~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the actor I cast to play [Charlie O'Neill](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/KiM7RWahktSMNlCnKZl_d2ym7q8/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/04/23/914/n/1922398/d5325ad4d66b0d8d_GettyImages-482993684/i/Sexy-Chace-Crawford-Pictures.jpg).


	3. Chapter 3

~o~

"You okay, kid?"

Charlie stopped his pacing and looked at his CO. Kawalsky could see the storm brewing in the kid's eyes, mostly because he was feeling the same storm of emotions himself. On one hand, it had been great to spend even a few minutes with his old friend, but knowing that General O'Neill wasn't truly _his_ friend, and knowing that they'd likely be going back to their own universe just as soon as Sam—Colonel Carter—could figure out how to make it happen had dampened his enjoyment of their brief interview.

"Maybe?" Charlie said. He slumped into a chair at the table where they'd eaten dinner. The SGC had kindly put them in VIP quarters instead of a cell, but the guard at the door made it more of a gilded cage, for all that it was more comfortable than the cells on fifteen. "I don't know. It's just—"

"It's hard, I get it," Kawalsky said. "He's your dad, but not."

"It was great, playing the Xbox with him—me and my dad never did that, at least not at work, anyway," Charlie said. "So I could tell myself that it wasn't him, and mostly that worked fine. But then he'd say something, or do something and it'd just hit me." He rubbed his face with both hands. "This is so fucked up."

"No kidding," Kawalsky said. "Sitting there comparing missions was like something out of the Twilight Zone. I will never, no matter how long I live, get used to all this alternate universe shit. And if I never have to do it again, it'll be too soon."

Charlie huffed a laugh. "Your lips to God's ears, sir." He took a deep breath and appeared to let it all go, which might not be healthy, but given that they were essentially still on a mission, it was best to compartmentalize whatever they were both feeling and deal with it later. "Any idea what's going to happen to us?"

"Jack promised me that we wouldn't be shipped off to Are 51 for 'further research'," Kawalsky said, the air quotes clear in his tone even if he didn't make the detested gesture. "He's pretty much a carbon copy of your dad, so I have to believe he's not lying. My guess is that they're researching how we ended up here so they can replicate whatever happened and send us home."

"Is that safe?"

"Who the hell knows, kid," Kawalsky said. "Even after all these years in the program, it's not like I trust the geeks farther than I can throw them. But they also know their stuff, so if anyone can figure it out, it's those guys."

"Meanwhile, we just wait," Charlie said. "You know I hate waiting, right?"

Kawalsky chuckled. "Yeah, me too. Give me a gun, tell me who to point it at, and I'm your guy."

"Hey, did they ever explain the whole 'First Prime of Apophis works here now' thing?" Charlie asked. "It never really came up when I was hanging with—well, you know."

"According to Jack, he helped them escape from Apophis' stronghold on Chulak." Kawalsky leaned back and settled his hands behind his head. "They went in without complete intel and were captured. Which doesn't sound a lot like your dad, but I figure they were getting pressure from Abydos to get their people back asap."

"Daniel told me that I—that the Generals' son in this universe—died," Charlie said, almost too quietly to be heard. 

Kawalsky leaned forward, seeing the sad, haunted look in the kid's eyes. "Let me guess," he said gently, "it was when you were playing with your dad's gun. Right?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, letting out a sigh. "I guess it messed him up. Like, a lot."

That almost made sense. Jack wouldn't have gone in with incomplete intel unless he wasn't operating at a hundred percent. He knew his friend—alternate universe or not—so he knew just how hard Jack would have taken Charlie's death. Suddenly, a lot of what the Jack in this universe was like made so much more sense. He was… looser, somehow. Less burdened, like he could easily let go of this life and move on to the next. Probably not too far from the truth, since Jack and his son had been as close as father and son could be. Losing that bond would fuck up even the sanest person.

"Is it terrible that I almost wish we didn't have to go back?" Charlie asked. He looked up at his CO, and the pain of loss was bright in his eyes. "I mean, I'd miss the people we left behind, but—"

"I get it, kid," Kawalsky said. He reached over and patted the young man's shoulder. "And it's not so terrible to want back what you lost. I'd be wondering if there was something wrong with you if you didn't."

"But we still have to go back," Charlie mumbled.

"Yeah, we have to go back," Kawalsky said. "But you're not the only one thinking about it, so don't beat yourself up over it, okay?"

"Fuck," Charlie said. He rubbed his hands over his face again before running them up and through his hair. "Okay, enough with the sad shit. I got a pack of cards here. What do you say you let me take some of your money, old man?"

"You wish," Kawalsky said, laughing. "I _will_ take all your lunch money. Just watch and learn, kid. Watch and learn."

Charlie laughed, which made Kawalsky smile. It was good that he could let some of that stuff go, even if it was just for a little while. He only hoped that the geeks would figure it out soon. Every hour in this universe was pure torture, for both of them, but maybe for Charlie most of all.

~o~

Jack stood on the front porch, hands in his pockets, debating his next move. This was such a bad idea, but after everything that had happened, he needed someone to lean on. Being a General sucked sometimes, in some pretty lousy ways, but not showing everyone just how much he was falling apart inside had to be the worst part of it. 

The thing was that, however unlikely it seemed, he needed to _talk_ about this. _To_ someone, instead of just bottling it up.

He could have gone to Daniel, who would have understood what it was like to lose someone, then get them back only to lose them again. But Daniel had lost a wife, which, while tragic, was a whole other thing to losing your child. 

And Teal'c, while he understood about loss and change, couldn't really understand the pain of a child's death, and that was something he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, much less a trusted friend and colleague.

Not that going to Sam with this made any more sense. She'd lost both her parents, sure, but again, that paled in comparison to the loss of a child. Still, he thought that, of all of them, Sam understood _him_ best, and that counted for something in this equation. Except that bringing the personal into their relationship was a bad idea. Frat regs existed for a reason, and throwing them all out the window for momentary comfort was irresponsible.

But, just for one night, he wanted to be able to lean on the woman he loved, even if it wasn't smart to want to. He didn't think it was too much to ask, and the universe did owe him one. Probably more than one.

And then the front door of Sam's house swung open, effectively taking the decision out of his hands. 

"Are you just going to stand there admiring my blue door, sir," Sam said, smirking at him, "or do you want to come in?"

Jack winced. "Sam."

Sam's eyes rounded ever so slightly. "Jack," she said, the little quaver in her voice letting him know she was surprised.

"How did you—"

"Cameras," she said, waving a hand at a shadow under the eaves. "I was hoping you'd make a decision, but it looked like you were going to be out here a while. I didn't want Mrs. Hanover getting nosy."

"Right," Jack said.

"So, in or out?"

"In," Jack said with more confidence than he felt.

Sam swung the door wide, waiting until he'd stepped into her foyer before she shut and locked the door. He followed her into the house, his head turning this way and that as he passed through areas of her house he hadn't seen in a while. SG-1 tended to always end up at his house, mostly because he liked being home, and partly because it was secluded and private enough that they could talk about whatever they liked without worrying about being listened to. Still, Sam's house had, on occasion, been their gathering place of choice because it was closer to the base.

He spotted her laptop sitting on the coffee table, and a few stacks of paper scattered around it. Looked like she'd been working, which made him feel bad for all of two seconds at having interrupted. Still, he felt like he should apologize.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," he said.

"No," she said with a smile as she closed the laptop and stacked the papers. "Just catching up on some journal articles I'd been meaning to read. You want something to drink? I've got some beer—"

"Probably not a good idea," he said, wincing as he realized he'd cut her off.

"Ah," she said. "Water it is. Be right back."

He watched her cross the open-plan space and pull two bottles of water out of the fridge. Instead of waiting for an invitation, he settled on one end of the couch and smiled his thanks when she handed off the bottle. He twisted off the cap and took a couple of long swallows before setting it on the coffee table.

"So, what's up, Jack?" she asked, leaning maybe a little on his name as she sat down on the couch, a little closer than he'd expected. 

She was looking at him with open concern, which warmed him a little. He knew he'd put professional distance between them years ago for good reason, but he was regretting that decision just a little right then.

"Charlie," he said, deciding to just jump in.

"I thought that might have been it," she said. She set her own bottle on the floor at her feet, then turned to face him on the couch. "Why not Daniel? He probably gets what you're going through a lot better than me."

"Probably, but I don't want to bring up painful memories," Jack said. "I just…"

"Need to tell someone how much it hurts right now," Sam said gently. "Believe it or not, I get that. After my Dad died, I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone. Mark didn't understand how Dad had died, and I couldn't tell him because it's classified. Teal'c was actually a really good sounding board. He let me yell and rant and cry. More than once."

"I could see him doing that," Jack said, mustering up a small smile. "Not sure we have that kind of relationship, though."

"I know," she said. "So, tell me. I'm a pretty good sounding board myself."

He leaned back, letting out a deep sigh, a little bit relief and a little bit frustration, because now that he had permission, he wasn't sure where to begin.

"You know how Charlie died, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know bits and pieces," she said, shrugging. "Enough to know that it was incredibly painful for you. And that you blamed yourself."

"I did," Jack said. "Still do, but I can live with that pain."

"And now, here you are, with your son sitting in VIP quarters in the mountain, knowing you're going to have to let him go again."

"Yeah," he said. "When I saw him standing there on the ramp, I knew who he was. I just _knew_. And as fucked up as it is, I was glad it was him. That somewhere in the multiverse, my son lived, that he got to grow up…"

"That some version of you out there didn't have to bury your son," Sam said gently. He looked at her with genuine surprise, even though he'd known that she'd get it, get him. She chuckled. "Yeah, I know you're not as dumb as you pretend to be. And I know because I've had the same thought so many times. That somewhere in some other universe, my mother didn't die in a car crash, and that my dad wasn't diagnosed with cancer. That they got to grow old together."

Jack saw the tears gather on her lashes, but she didn't let them fall. She was far stronger than any of them gave her credit for, and it made him love her all the more.

"The thing is," he said quietly, "I don't want him to stay. Not because he's not really my son, and knowing that is its own kind of pain. I don't want him to stay because there are people in some other universe out there who'd miss him. And I can't be that selfish, no matter how much I might want to. It's not fair to them, and it's not fair to him."

"You're allowed to be a little selfish, Jack," she said. "About this, at least."

"But it's not just him, is it?" he asked. "It's Chuck, too. If we send Kawalsky back, we have to send Charlie back, and I'm not—I can't do that to _both_ of them."

The heartache sat in his chest, throbbing in time to the beat of his heart as he leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. He was proud of himself for not flinching when Sam reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, offering him a small bit of comfort. He leaned into the touch, sighing as the pleasure of it coiled around the heartache and eased the burden of it just a little.

"If I can't keep Charlie, at least tell me I haven't lost you, too, Sam," he said quietly.

He felt her shift closer, leaning her forehead against his temple. "You haven't lost me. I'm not going anywhere, at least by choice. Even if the regs say we can't be together, I can't imagine wanting anyone else."

"No offense, but this _whole thing_ is massively fucked up," he said.

"Yeah, it's a mess. A beautiful mess, but still a mess," she said. She pulled back a little, and he turned his head to look into her eyes. "But for better or worse, it's our beautiful mess, and I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"Yeah," he said with a small smile. "It is that."

~o~


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: total and complete bullshit science ahead. I don't even think it'd pass the Wikipedia test. You've been warned.

~o~

"Okay, Carter," Jack said as he settled at the head of the briefing table two days later, "wow us with your dizzying intellect."

Sam narrowed her eyes at her commanding officer. There was a pop culture reference in there, she was almost sure of it. His grin was practically daring her to ask, but she knew they'd never get the briefing finished—much less started—if she let the conversation get hijacked by a discussion on the relative merits of—whatever. 

Besides, he looked better and sounded better than he had when he'd left her place in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. She'd take his teasing any day of the week if he'd just stay that way.

So instead of responding to his comment, she took a deep breath and turned to the screen behind her. "We've analyzed the telemetry data from the dialing computer. This is a model of what we think happened to Kawalsky and—"

"Charlie," Daniel said when Sam broke off.

She smiled at him, but it was slightly pinched. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that, but that was a problem for another time.

"Sorry, Carter, but what exactly are we looking at here?" Jack asked. He was tipping his head back and forth, as if trying to find a better angle to view the model on the screen.

"This," Sam said, defaulting into teaching mode, "is a Pulsar, specifically Regulus 45c-1. Basically, it's a star that's jetting out massive amounts of radiation along a particular axis. When viewed from a telescope here on Earth, it looks like it's pulsing, because the radiation only emits in two directions, directly opposite one another."

"And that's what you think their wormhole passed through on the way to Earth?" Daniel asked.

"Yes."

"It's a wonder they weren't cooked by all that radiation," Daniel said.

Sam flipped the slide, so that the model showed the wormhole passing through the jet of radiation. "They probably should have been. Instead, we think the radiation from the Pulsar had a kind of prismatic effect, like when light catches a crystal. The crystal splits the light into its constituent bandwidths, which the human eye interprets as a rainbow."

"I have seen this phenomenon on many worlds," Teal'c said. 

Sam glanced over to him, seated as usual at the General's right. She often forgot that he understood so much, because he rarely ever spoke, but he hadn't become a First Prime based on bravery alone.

"This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Charlie and Kawalsky?" Jack asked.

"Everything."

All eyes turned to the woman sitting next to Teal'c. Doctor Carolyn Lam had only joined the SGC a week ago, and already she'd been thrown into the deep end. It was a wonder she hadn't run for the hills yet.

Sam took her seat next to Daniel, on Jack's other side, and listened as the Doctor explained what they believed to have happened.

"When I did the preliminary DNA tests on Colonel Kawalsky and Lieutenant O'Neill, I was able to determine that they were a match for the samples we have on file for both men."

"Wait, you have Jack's son's DNA on file?" Daniel asked.

"In the Lieutenant's case," Carolyn said, "we compared his DNA to the General's, as well as a sample from his ex-wife. He showed a strong familial match to both. If this were a court of law, I'd be confident in testifying that Charlie O'Neill is the General's son."

All eyes swung to the General, but he didn't react, as if that were the exact outcome he'd been expecting. After their late-night conversation, she knew he'd accepted the truth of it, but it wasn't easy for him. Daniel had explained a bit more to her when he'd stopped by her lab to check in, but she was still having trouble coming to grips with the situation. Not just that in some alternate universe, Jack O'Neill's son had survived, but that she was that kid's stepmother. Even for as comfortable as she was with all this science, Sam was still getting a headache trying to come to terms with the whole mess.

"Okay, so we know they are who they say they are," Jack said, breaking into Sam's thoughts. "The question is, how do we send them back?"

"Um, that's just it, Sir," Sam said. "We don't."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "We don't?"

"There's nowhere to send them back to," Sam said.

"Carter," Jack said. He rubbed a hand over his face. "They had to come from somewhere, so why can't we send them back where they came from?"

"We can't send them back because, according to the DNA tests, they're actually from this universe."

Now it was Carolyn's turn to be the center of attention, as everyone swung their gaze to her. She sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"Look, I don't pretend to understand what all the science means, but Colonel Carter and I tested the isotopes in both men's DNA, and _that_ matches this universe." She paused. "They're ours."

There was silence around the room as they all absorbed that information. Even though Sam had been in the room and assisting Carolyn with the test, she was still reeling from the implications.

"So, wait," Daniel said, when the silence had stretched on for several moments. "They're actually from this universe, despite the fact that both of them are supposedly dead."

Jack winced, and Sam's heart went out to him. It had been hard meeting his son, knowing that he couldn't stay because the consequences of staying—even if they were the only copies of each man on Earth—were too painful to consider. Only now they knew they couldn't send them back. Hope, such a fragile thing under normal circumstances, had to be near the breaking point from being yanked around so much.

"How is that possible?" Teal'c asked. "I personally witnessed the death of Charles Kawalsky. While I acknowledge that the man we have in custody is _a_ Charles Kawalsky, he is not _our_ Charles Kawalsky."

"Well, it goes back to the prismatic effect," Sam said, waving at the screen, still displaying the graphic she'd started with. "When the wormhole passed through the Pulsar's jet, it fractured, for lack of a better term, creating slightly different copies of itself, which then continued on their original path."

"So, you mean there could be other copies of Charlie and Kawalsky in other alternate universes?" Daniel asked.

Sam sighed. "We don't know, but it seems likely."

"So, the bottom line is, whether or not this is the universe they started out in, it's their universe now."

Everyone looked at Jack, who had so neatly summed up the situation in a single sentence. Sam was surprised he was showing his intellect in front of the team, but with the stress of the situation, maybe she shouldn't have been. She raised her eyebrow as she looked at him, and he winced slightly, probably realizing too late that he'd showed off his smarts yet again.

"Yes, Sir, that about sums it up," Sam said, smirking at him. It was rare for her to catch him out, and she was going to enjoy this for as long as she could. "Plus, it appears that they're both at least a few years older than their counterparts in this universe would have been."

"How is _that_ possible?" Daniel asked.

"Time is wibbly-wobbly and timey-wimey?" Sam offered.

Jack snorted, because even Sam could admit that that was as absurd as it was funny. Also quite true, but she wasn't going to say that out loud.

"So, who gets to tell them that they can't go home because they're already home?" Daniel asked.

~o~

The phone on Jack's desk rang; he stared at it like it was a coiled snake about to strike, but picked up the receiver after just a couple of rings.

"Sir, I have General Hammond on the line for you," Harriman said.

"Thanks, Walter," Jack said. He waited for the telltale click of the airman ringing off, then took a deep breath. "George."

"Jack," Hammond said by way of greeting. "We're not scheduled to talk for another couple of days, so I have to assume something's wrong. Though Colorado hasn't blown up, so it can't be too bad."

Jack couldn't help himself; he chuckled. "No, sir, the geeks have been behaving themselves lately."

"So, what's going on that couldn't wait a few days?"

"We have a couple of visitors, George," Jack said without preamble. "From an alternate universe."

"Oh?" Hammond said in that voice that reminded him of his father. The voice that said he knew Jack had something to do with what had happened, and was only waiting for the bullshit explanation so he could poke holes in it.

"Monday morning, we had an unscheduled activation," Jack said. "Two men came through the gate. We realized immediately that they weren't from around here."

"And who are they?" Hammond asked.

"Charles Kawalsky and Charlie O'Neill."

There was a sharp intake of breath on the line, and then a deep sigh. "And how are you coping with that? Must be difficult for you, considering what both of them mean to you."

"I'm not gonna lie and say it's been easy," Jack said. He rubbed at his forehead, then plowed on. "The thing is that, due to the way they were transported here, we can't send them back. For better or worse, they're ours now."

"How is that possible?" Hammond asked.

"Carter can explain it better than I can," Jack said. Hammond knew better than anyone just how smart Jack was, but he really didn't feel like going into detail in that moment. It was enough trying to cope with the highs and lows of the day. "Basically, it amounts to they were altered when their wormhole passed through a pulsar. Their isotopes match our universe, so there won't be any cascade failure."

"Making them ours," Hammond said, echoing Jack's earlier statement. "Alright. Have you told them yet?"

"No," Jack said. "I wanted to tell you first. Obviously, we're going to need to create identities for both of them. And I suspect they'll both want to stay with the program, so there's that to deal with as well."

"Well, reactivating Kawalsky shouldn't be too difficult," Hammond said. "We declared him missing, presumed dead when we lost him. There'll be some paperwork, but we've done it before so I don't anticipate a problem." He paused. "Charlie will be somewhat more problematic."

"Yeah, I expected as much," Jack said.

"I'm sure you've given this some thought, Jack," Hammond said gently. "What do you want to do?"

Jack took a deep breath. "I can't… give him up, George. He's my son, and even though he's from a different universe, that fact won't change."

"Alright," Hammond said. "It's well known that you and Sarah never had any other children, and slotting him in as Charlie O'Neill will raise a lot of questions that we don't really want to answer."

"I was thinking," Jack said. "I had a girlfriend, right before I met Sarah. We only dated a few months—maybe six? I don't know—but a few years later, I heard she'd been killed in a car crash. Her parents are gone now, so maybe we can make Charlie her son. He's about the right age to be her son—something about how traveling between universes doesn't mean you arrive at the exact same time in the alternate universe; Sam could explain it better—so it might work on paper. I'd have to talk to him about it. I'll still want Sarah to know. It's not fair if I get him back and she doesn't."

"I can understand that," Hammond said. "I'll authorize you to talk to her whenever you're ready. Just remind her that she's still under an NDA for the SGC. I'll need you to send me the information on your former girlfriend so I can get Charlie's paperwork started, including what name he'd like to be known by."

"Will do," Jack said. "And, thanks, George. For everything."

"You're welcome, Jack," Hammond said, his smile clear from the tone of his voice. "Please have Colonel Carter forward her report to me, including the DNA tests. It might be wise to lock those records in the system. The NID is still a royal pain in my ass, so this isn't something we want them to get wind of."

"Yes, sir," Jack said. "I'll order all the reports sealed and stored on paper only. They can't hack what they can't find."

"Good thinking," Hammond said. "And Jack… Congratulations."

"Thanks," Jack said. 

He hung up the phone, unable to stop the grin stretching his face. He sobered a bit when he thought about how the two men in question would react to the news. Losing the world they knew and getting one in return that was close but not quite the same was sure to fuck them both up in ways no one had thought of yet. Hammond hadn't been wrong, though. Both of them were important to Jack, so he'd do what he could to help them adjust.

~o~


	5. Chapter 5

~o~

"This can't be good news," Charlie muttered as he sat next to his CO in the briefing room, just outside his Dad's—the General's—office.

"Relax, kid," Kawalsky said. "Good news or bad, at least we'll have an answer."

Charlie opened his mouth to respond when the door to the General's office swung open. Kawalsky surged to his feet as the General and Colonel Carter walked in; Charlie scrambled to follow.

"As you were," General O'Neill said, waving them back down into their seats.

"Jack," Kawalsky said as he sat down again, glancing across the table at Carter before refocusing on the man at the head of the table. "What's going on? Any update on when we can get outta here?"

The General winced, and Charlie's heart sunk, then leaped in his chest. "We're not going home, are we?"

"No, you're not," his Dad said. Charlie could see the pinch around his eyes, but wasn't sure what it meant, other than that he was concerned. Probably not sure how they'd take the news. 

"Does that mean you don't know how to send us back, or you _can't_ send us back?" Kawalsky asked.

His Dad waved at Carter, who looked at the two of them, that same pinch in her expression. It was weird, considering he knew they weren't even dating in this universe. 

"Basically, your inbound wormhole passed through a pulsar on the way back to Earth," Carter said. "It broke the wormhole into separate streams, which then continued on to Earth. We think passing through the pulsar like it did created copies instead of fracturing the wormhole."

"Copies?" Kawalsky asked. "You mean, like a Xerox machine?"

"Pretty much," Carter. "The bottom line is that, genetically, you belong to this universe, so we can't send you back. If we did, you'd die from—"

"Cascade failure," Kawalsky said, leaning back in his chair. "Well, fuck. I don't even know what to do with this."

"In the short term, we're going to get you set up with identities in this universe," the General said. "What happens in the long term is up to you."

"Jesus," Kawalsky said. "Does that mean I'm not even me? I mean, I'm a copy, right? Not even the Charles Kawalsky from this universe, just a copy of him from a different universe."

Charlie cringed. He hadn't even thought of that, but the idea of that bothered him less than he'd expected. Sure, that meant that he wasn't really Charlie O'Neill, but considering that the Charlie O'Neill from this universe died, he wasn't really bothered by it all that much. He was glad that the people in his own universe weren't going to lose their Charlie O'Neill; just about as happy that he got to stay in this universe with his Dad.

"You are definitely Chuck Kawalsky," his Dad said, using that firm voice he'd always brought out whenever Charlie tried to question him about something he shouldn't. The voice that brooked no argument, just laid down the law. It was funny to see the effect it had on a man near to the same age as his father. "And I don't care which universe you came from; I'm glad to have you back."

Charlie just stared at this man that looked like his Dad. In all the years he'd known the man, he'd never been that open with his emotions. Of course, this man wasn't the father he'd grown up with, and losing a son must have changed him in ways Charlie simply couldn't fathom.

"Okay, Jack," Kawalsky said, holding his hands up in something like surrender. "I get it. It's just… weird, okay?"

"Believe me," the General said. "I get it better than most. I had to sit through the initial briefing."

"I bet that was fun," Kawalsky said, cheeky smile firmly in place. He sobered, glancing at Carter and Charlie. "So, now what?"

"General Hammond is working on raising you from the dead," the General said. Kawalsky and Charlie both snorted that that, because it was such a Jack O'Neill thing to say. "In the meantime, I need you to write up whatever you can about your own SGC: major missions, Goa'uld—both dead and alive, planets you've visited that are on the no-fly list. Anything you think will be relevant to our mission."

"I can do that," Kawalsky said.

"I'll show you an office you can use," Carter said as she stood up.

Charlie stood up as if to follow, but his Dad's voice cut across the table, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"Why don't you stick around for a bit, Charlie?"

"Yeah, sure," Charlie said. He glanced at Kawalsky, who was looking equal parts concerned and amused. He straightened up, coming to attention when he realized what he'd done. "I mean, yes sir."

"Hang in there, kid," Kawalsky said, slapping him on the back. "And remember, he's still your Dad, no matter which universe you're in."

"Yeah," Charlie huffed out, relaxing a little. "Right."

~o~

Jack watched Carter and Kawalsky leave the briefing room, picking up Kawalsky's escort as they went. He made a mental note to cancel the guard once the two men had their IDs in hand. No sense shadowing them around the facility when they weren't a threat.

He looked up at his son, who was still standing at loose parade rest. Waving a hand, he said, "For cryin' out loud, Charlie. Sit down."

A big grin broke out over the boy's face as he settled into a chair closer to the head of the table, causing an answering smile to spread over Jack's. He sobered quickly as he thought about how to approach this conversation. He rubbed his hands over his face, taking a deep breath before he started speaking.

"The thing is, Charlie, that technically, you're dead in this universe," he said, going for straight honesty rather than beating around the bush.

"And you can't just bring me back," Charlie said. Jack's head popped up, and he shot the kid a surprised look. Charlie just chuckled. "I know you're not stupid, Dad. Er, I mean, sir."

"No, no, it's fine," Jack said, his heart flipping in his chest at hearing his son call him 'Dad'. "But yeah, bringing you back would cause some serious suspicion in parts of the government that we don't really want asking too many questions."

"NID, huh?"

"Yeah, among others," Jack said. His kid was really, frighteningly smart. If he didn't know better, he'd think Charlie was Carter's kid and not his own.

"So does that mean you're going to ship me off to Area 51?" Charlie asked.

Jack could hear the slight tremor in his voice, telling him that while Charlie might look calm on the outside, he was nervous inside, and Jack's reluctance to get to the bottom of the issue probably wasn't helping. 

"Bottom line is that we plan to keep you," Jack said. "If you want to stay with the program—you and Kawalsky—we'd be happy to have you. But you can't be Charlie O'Neill, no matter where you end up."

"I kind of figured," Charlie said, shrugging. "But I'm also guessing you have some idea for how to fix this. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here talking."

"I do," Jack said. He leaned back and smiled fondly at the kid. "Back before I met your mother, I dated a girl named Katie Donovan. Really nice girl from a really good family. She died a few years after I married your mother. Car crash, as a matter of fact. I told George that I thought we could make you Katie's son, on paper. She has no family left; her parents died some years ago, so there's no one left to say whether you really are her son or not."

"What about Mom—I mean, Sarah O'Neill?" Charlie asked. The kid looked a little lost so that, for just a minute, he was still that eleven year old boy Jack remembered, and not the 24 year old young man sitting in front of him.

"I told George that I wanted to tell her about you," Jack said gently. "She deserves to know, and you deserve to… get your Mom back."

The kid appeared to wilt right before his eyes, making Jack feel like a heel for not leading with that particular bit of information.

"So, Donovan, huh?" Charlie asked. "I can work with that. Can I, uh, still go by Charlie? It won't be weird if I do?"

"Lucky for you, Katie's father was named Charles," Jack said. "So no one would think it's strange that she named her kid after her father. But—"

"But it might be a little weird if I'm named Charles Donovan," Charlie said. "Could I be Jonathan Charles Donovan? We could just say that my Mom used to call me Charlie after her dad, but maybe I could go by John around here."

"You don't mind giving up 'Elliot'?" Jack asked.

"Eh," Charlie said on a shrug. "I know it was Mom's—my mom's—maiden name, but…"

"But what?"

"But I kinda always wanted to be named after you," Charlie said. "Besides, even though I'm still Charlie O'Neill, I think maybe it's best if I change my name. That way your Charlie gets to stay yours."

"Let me be clear, kid," Jack said, pride welling up inside him for this kid of his, "you're my Charlie. I don't care which universe you came from. You're here now, so you're mine. And I'm not giving you up again. Okay?"

"Got it," Charlie said. He paused, but Jack could tell there was something else on his mind. He made a 'get on with it' gesture, so Charlie went on. "It's just… my dad never talked about his feelings much. I mean, I know he had them, but he never really talked about them. But, you're different."

"Oh, I can bottle up my feelings with the best of them," Jack said, rocking back in his chair. "But I've learned that bottling them up isn't always smart. Part of what broke my marriage to your—to Sarah was not talking about what happened. Not talking about losing you, or about what that did to me and to her. Maybe we'd still be together if we'd just talked to each other. Maybe not, I don't know. But after I got back from Abydos, I realized it wasn't worth keeping it all locked away. I'm not saying I'm sitting around in a sewing circle, chatting about my feelings, but when it's important, I try to put it into words."

"Huh," Charlie said. "I feel like I'm not in Kansas anymore."

Jack's face lit up. He stood up, smiling. "C'mere, kid."

Charlie stood up and walked right into his father's arms. Jack held on tight, feeling right for the first time in far too long.

~o~

The knock on Kawalsky's door was a surprise. There were very few people in the mountain who knew he and Charlie were even there, and even though Charlie had his own room, he knew the kid was bonding with his Dad, so it couldn't be him. 

Whoever it was knocked again; Kawalsky figured there wasn't any harm in answering, so he turned the knob and swung the door wide.

"I figured you'd be either bored to tears or ripping your hair out, so I thought I'd come rescue you."

"Ferretti?" Kawalsky asked. It was like looking at a ghost. Again.

"You were expecting the Queen if Siam, maybe?" Ferretti asked as he walked into the room, seemingly oblivious to Kawalsky's shock. When he turned around, his face fell, and he cocked his head. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Kawalsky said, shaking his head and clearing his throat a little. "It's just… like looking at another ghost, honestly. Jesus. Just once I'd like to walk into a room and not feel the floor shifting under me."

"I'm dead, then?" Ferretti asked, then shook his head. "Of course I am. Trade-offs, right? That sucks, man. You want me to leave?"

"No!" Kawalsky said, louder than he'd intended. He cringed. "No, it's okay. It's actually good to see you. It's been—well, it's been a while."

"Abydos?" Ferretti asked. "Or maybe Chulak? They were both pretty fucked up, so I guess it's not a surprise I didn't make it."

"How are you so calm about this?" Kawalsky asked. He shut the door and turned to face his—well, some version of his old friend, anyway.

"He's not me?"

Kawalsky snorted. "Like hell he's not. A Ferretti is a Ferretti, no matter what universe I'm in, apparently." He paused, a thought coming to him. "Hey, how'd you even know I was here?"

"O'Neill," Ferretti said. "Guess he thought you could use a friendly face."

"And some beer, seems like," Kawalsky said, pointing to the six-pack Ferretti was holding.

"Nah, that was all my idea," Ferretti said with a huge smile. "This place is supposed to be dryer than Abydos, but the guards tend to look the other way when we ask. And O'Neill's never made a big deal about it, so we try to keep it low-key."

"He wasn't wrong," Kawalsky said. "I could use a friend right about now."

"Come on," Ferretti said. He set the sixer on the table and cracked a couple bottles open. He practically flopped into one of the chairs and kicked the other one away from the table just a little, clearly an invitation to sit. "Sit down and tell Uncle Lou all your troubles."

Kawalsky couldn't help it; he cracked up. He set the beer bottle down on the table and collapsed into the chair, not even sure what had set him off. When he thought he was under control enough, he reached for the beer, downing half of it in one swallow.

"Jesus, Chuck, slow down," Ferretti said. 

"You know," Kawalsky said, looking around the room without really seeing the details, "most of the time, it's like I'm in my own SGC. Same grey walls, same food, same damned coffee. Mostly the same people. But then someone will pop up that we lost, and I'll just…"

"Lose it, apparently," Ferretti finished for him. "You know, the shrinks would say that it's okay to have an emotional reaction to all this. It's okay to feel like your world's been yanked away, because it has."

"Never figured you for the squishy-sciences type," Kawalsky said, raising his eyebrow at the other man.

"Eh, most of the time, I try to avoid the shrinks," Ferretti said, shrugging his shoulders. He took a drink, then pointed at Kawalsky with his bottle. "But I also know that we see a shit-ton of the most fucked up stuff this universe can throw at us. Sometimes, the only appropriate reaction is to lose your shit. Better you do it here, where no one's shooting at you."

"Point," Kawalsky said. He took a sip of his beer, turning that over in his head. "I just never imagined that I'd come back from a mission and find that the fucked up shit had followed me home. You heard about me being a—well, I guess I'm a clone of the real Kawalsky. Sure doesn't feel like it."

"Hey, you're just about as real as I am, so knock that shit off," Ferretti said. "Besides, what's to say that the Kawalsky that ended up in your original universe isn't actually the copy? I mean, no one knows how this shit works, really. Not even the geeks."

Kawalsky thought about that for a minute. He'd just assumed, after Carter's explanation, that he was the copy, but what if he was the original, and some other copy had ended up in his universe instead? He couldn't even really get mad about it, because he didn't have a girlfriend, and while he had a great job and friends he could count on, there wasn't really anything keeping him at the SGC. 

He could have retired a long time ago, maybe take a page out of Jack's book and find a cabin on a lake, just sit and fish all day. Nobody shooting at him, nobody trying to blow up this or any other planet. Of course, he could do that here just as well as in his own universe, but he also knew that things were different here. He'd checked the database and found quite a few discrepancies. They could use his knowledge, and maybe even his leadership skills. And clone or not, the things he knew and the things he'd done were his. He was a soldier, first and foremost. What was he if he couldn't serve?

"You got any idea what you're going to do?" Ferretti asked.

Kawalsky smiled. "Yeah, I think I'll stick around for a while. Seems like you could use someone to keep you out of trouble."

"You just keep thinking that," Ferretti said. "I seem to remember some wild nights back in the day."

"Oh yeah?" Kawalsky asked. He settled back and took another long swallow. "So, tell me about them. Let's see if your Kawalsky and me are anything alike."

Ferretti just grinned. "We're probably going to need more beer."

~o~

Sam thanked the server and picked up her tray, intent on heading back to her lab to work on a couple of reports that were extremely overdue. Harriman had been harassing her for days, but she'd had a new scientific mystery to solve, and so, per usual, all other considerations had been shoved aside in favor of science. She might be an Air Force officer, but she was still a scientist, and discovery still drove her to get out of bed every day.

She was almost to the doors when she caught sight of a familiar head in a quiet corner of the mess, head bent low over what looked like a tablet. She debated about going over there for a few seconds; she really did have to get those reports started, but she also knew that there were some things more important than reports.

Like her CO's son.

So instead of heading back to her lab, she detoured over to Charlie's table. Clearing her throat, she pulled up her friendliest smile and asked, "Mind if I sit down?"

Charlie's head popped up, his face breaking out into a wide grin that so reminded Sam of his father that, for a second, her breath caught.

"Hey, Sam—I mean, Colonel Carter," he said, scrambling to his feet into something close to attention. "Is there something I can help you with, ma'am?"

"Well, for starters you can relax," she said, her smile widening. "And you can call me Sam, if you'd like. At least when it's just the two of us."

"Thanks, ma'am—I mean, Sam," he said, letting go his rigid posture for something closer to parade rest.

"So, can I join you?" she asked again, quirking an eyebrow at him. He looked flustered, which made him look so very young, and for just a minute, she felt sorry for him.

"Please," he said. He set his tablet and dirty dishes aside, pulling his soda closer to him as he sat down.

Sam sat down and put her salad and bottle of water in front of her. Charlie took the tray from her, tucking it under his own. He turned back to her, folding his arms on the table and smiling at her with obvious joy mixed with some wariness. She could understand that; she both was and wasn't the woman he knew. And while she knew she couldn't replace that Sam Carter, she could be a friend. Her relationship—or whatever it was—with Jack O'Neill didn't depend on it, but she also knew they were the two most important people in this world to him, and since Charlie would be around for the foreseeable future, it was smart to learn to get along.

Plus, she was unabashedly curious about Charlie. She was a scientist, after all.

"So, what can I do for you?" he asked. He was less wary, which was good, so Sam tried to put him further at ease.

"Just to talk," she said, smiling. "I've never met a Charlie O'Neill, so I confess I'm a little curious to know what you're like."

"I'm just me, I guess," he said, shrugging his shoulders, a little self-deprecating smile hovering on his lips. "I like Call of Duty, and pizza and beer. I have a sweet car—an old Mustang my dad and I restored—though I guess it isn't really mine anymore."

Sam winced. "How are you doing with this whole… thing? It can't be easy."

"It's probably easier for me," Charlie said. "I mean, I lost my Dad a while back, so getting him back, even if he's not really my Dad… It's like someone gave me a gift."

"You didn't have anyone back in your universe?" she asked. "No one you were dating?"

"Nah. I've only been with the SGC for a couple of years. There were girls I hung out with—girls on other teams—but no one I'd considered dating." He shrugged. "I dated some in high school, and a little bit at the academy, but mostly I've been focused on school, and then on just learning my job and trying not to die. Plus, being friends with girls is easy. Dating them is so much harder. You know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sam said. She shook her head. "I get so wrapped up in the science that I forget how to talk to normal people. I had a date a while back with this really nice cop. But I couldn't wait to get out of the restaurant we went to so I could get back to my lab. I'd had this really interesting idea while I was sitting there and—well, he wasn't keeping my attention, to be honest. Nice guy, but just… nothing there, really."

Charlie chuckled. "I get it. But hey, you get along with my Dad, right?"

"We get along fine," Sam said, her smile turning wistful. "But because of the regs… well, we're friends at most. Probably more like friendly colleagues, but that's for the best."

"But is that really enough for you?" Charlie asked quietly. "I mean, if you could have more, wouldn't you want it?"

Sam nibbled her lower lip, debating how much she could say in a crowded room. "The thing is, I try not to think like that, because this is my reality. Your Dad and I made a choice, years ago, and I don't regret that choice, because I respect him, and I respect the Air Force. If things were to change… it'd be nice to have the chance to find out if we could have had a future together, but I have to deal with the here and now. And right now, he's my CO and my friend."

Charlie appeared pleased by her words, which made her smile. She hadn't meant to say most of it, because she really didn't want to give the kid hope that things might change. But the truth was that things were changing between them, and even if the regs never did, she knew she couldn't go back to pretending there wasn't anything between them.

"So, what were you looking at on your tablet?" Sam asked.

Charlie shrugged. "Dad let me borrow his. I'm just poking around, trying to see what's different here. I'm actually kinda looking forward to getting my own XBox. I can kick everyone's asses all over again."

Sam laughed. "You mean, you can beat your Dad's scores."

"Of course," Charlie said with a big grin.

"You should probably go shopping," Sam said, a quick list forming in her mind. "I'm pretty sure you're going to get tired of wearing fatigues all the time, and there are other things you can't get from the Quartermaster."

"Probably," Charlie said. "I'd like a laptop. And a cell phone. I don't think mine will work here."

"I tell you what," Sam said, an idea forming in her mind. "You get your Dad to fork over his credit card and I'll take you shopping on Saturday. We were talking about getting the team together that night anyway. You could join us. Kawalsky too. It'll be fun."

"I'd like that," Charlie said, smiling at her.

"Great!" Sam said. 

She looked down, realizing that she'd barely touched her lunch. She knew she really should get back to her office to at least make a start on the reports she owed, but she was honestly enjoying talking to Charlie far too much to go back to work. Settling in, she picked up her fork, pointing it at Charlie.

"Now, you must have some interesting stories about your Dad," she said as she dug into her food.

~o~


	6. Chapter 6

~o~

"Well, that was creepy as fuck," Kawalsky said, shaking his head as the credits rolled.

"No kidding, sir," Charlie said.

"I thought you said you'd seen _Star Wars_?" Jack asked.

Their dinner and team bonding night had turned into a movie night when Charlie had mentioned - between bites of the zucchini lasagne Sam had whipped up - that he'd been wondering how many of his favorite movies would be different in this universe.

"Well, yeah, who hasn't," Kawalsky said. "But seriously? Luke and Leia are brother and sister? They kissed, for fuck's sake."

"You mean that's not how the trilogy goes in your universe?" Daniel asked.

"Not at all," Charlie said. "Luke and Leia aren't siblings. And Vader isn't either of their fathers. Luke and Leia end up together at the end of _Revenge of the Jedi_."

" _Revenge of the Jedi_?" Jack asked. He shook his head. _That_ was just weird.

"At least it wasn't a small, cult film, like _Blade Runner_ ," Sam said.

" _Blade Runner_?" Kawalsky asked. "Never heard of it."

"I prefer _Lord of the Rings_ ," Teal'c said. "I find the battle scenes particularly authentic."

"They made movies out of those books?" Charlie asked. 

The kid was practically vibrating where he was sitting on the floor between Jack and Sam. Jack had been a little giddy when Charlie had just plopped down to lean against the couch between the two of them. Plus, it let him and Sam lean into each other without drawing too much attention.

"You read those books, Charlie?" he asked.

"We - well, my Dad and I read them when I was little," Charlie said. "But Tolkein's family never would license the stories to be made into films. I was always bummed that I'd never get to see it all come to life. You're saying there are three movies? One for each book?"

"They're even talking about making _The Hobbit_ into a movie," Jack said. He ruffled Charlie's hair. "Maybe we can go see them when they come out."

Charlie looked up at him, a big grin on his face. "That'd be cool."

" _The Terminator_ ," Daniel said, apropos of nothing.

"Come again?" Jack asked.

"I was just thinking about all the movies that might be different," Daniel said. "James Cameron always said he had a tough time getting that movie made, so I just wondered if maybe it never got made in the other universe."

"I remember seeing _The Terminator_ ," Kawalsky said. "It was pretty good. Stallone made a great Terminator. It's too bad they never got to make more. I'd have paid good money to see him say 'I'll be back' one more time."

"Sylvester Stallone played the Terminator?" Jack asked. "What happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger?"

"Who?" Kawalsky asked. 

"Hoo boy," Daniel said. 

"So does that mean they never made any sequels?" Sam asked. 

"Nope," Kawalsky said, shaking his head. "I'm assuming they made more than one here."

"There are three _Terminator_ films," Teal'c said. "I prefer the second one."

"Hey, why don't we—"

"Because it's late and Teal'c still has to drive you back to the mountain," Jack said.

"This isn't the last time we're going to do this," Charlie said. "I mean, I'm not inviting myself over, but I had a good time, so I'm hoping we'll do this again."

"Oh, we're definitely doing this again," Jack said with a grin.

"I'm in," Kawalsky said. "Plus, it gets me out of the mountain."

"General Hammond should have your paperwork done soon," Jack said. "Once he does, you'll be able to get yourself set up."

"If you need any assistance, I would be happy to provide it," Teal'c said.

Kawalsky narrowed his eyes, clearly still suspicious of the former First Prime. Teal'c simply returned his gaze, expression open with a slight smile on his face. Everyone else stayed quiet, waiting to see what would happen. Jack was hoping they weren't going to throw down right there in his living room; apart from the fact that blood was hard to get out of carpet, he really would prefer it if his closest friends got along. He knew it was asking a lot for Kawalsky to accept a Jaffa as a friend much less an ally, but he could hope.

Kawalsky shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'm a little light on friends at the moment. It'll be nice to have a friendly face around. Sort of."

Teal'c merely nodded, but it seemed to Jack as if everyone else in the room let out the breath they'd been holding.

"And on that note, I need to get going," Daniel said, standing up.

"I should head back too," Kawalsky said. "I need to get that report finished, and I want to get an early start on qualifying on the range tomorrow."

"I will drive you back to the base, Colonel Kawalsky," Teal'c said, standing up.

"Thanks," Kawalsky said. If he was at all uncomfortable with the idea of a Jaffa driving him around, he didn't show it.

They quickly cleaned up the leftover dishes from their impromptu movie marathon, and then Daniel, Teal'c and Kawalsky headed out. Charlie was staying the weekend with Jack, something Jack was excited about, so he just said his good-nights and made for the stairs.

Sam was rinsing out the last of the dinner dishes while Jack watched. She was moving around his kitchen as if she belonged, making Jack smile helplessly. He hooked her arm as she passed him, pulling her between his legs as he wrapped his arms around her.

They stared at each other for several heartbeats. Jack felt... content, for the first time in a very long time. He leaned down and placed an almost chaste kiss on her lips, holding it for just a beat longer than normal as he savored the experience.

When he pulled back, Sam was looking at him with one eyebrow raised. "What?"

"I thought we'd agreed to leave this all in that room," Sam said.

"I like this room better," Jack said, shrugging his shoulders.

Sam pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips to his, parting them almost immediately to sweep her tongue over his lips, teasing him with the possibilities. He opened his mouth, his tongue seeking hers out, only to hear a squeak from across the room.

Jack pulled back to see his son standing near the fridge, bottle of water in hand, grinning from ear to ear. He'd changed out of the jeans Sam had bought him earlier into sweat pants and a t-shirt. He was carefully not thinking about just how much of his money his son and his... whatever Sam was, had spent. 

"Um, sorry?" Charlie said, clearly nothing of the kind. "I was just getting some water."

"It's okay, kiddo," Jack said. "We were just—"

"Saying good night," Sam said. She pulled back out of his arms and tucked her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"Please, don't go on my account," Charlie said. "I'm just going to head off to bed now. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

The kid actually had the nerve to wink at them as he left the room. Jack sighed, putting his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for Sam again.

"I really do need to get going," Sam said. 

He was relieved that she hadn't reverted to calling him 'sir'. He also knew she was right; she needed to go before they did something rash and stupid. The regs still applied, even if Jack was forming a plan in his head for how to convince George to fix that. Still, best to avoid even a hint of impropriety, at least for now.

"Yeah, I'll walk you to the door," Jack said.

They moved quietly through the house, Jack helping Sam into her jacket near the door. They stood staring at each other for a moment longer, each one waiting for the other to do something. Finally, Sam leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"I had a good time today," she said quietly. "Charlie's a great kid. I'm glad you got him back."

"Me too," Jack said, smiling.

"And I like that room better, too," she whispered as she kissed him one more time before escaping out the door.

Jack couldn't have stopped the stupid grin on his face if he'd tried.

~o~

"Hey, Sam, are you okay?"

Sam shook her head, staring at Daniel, wondering when he'd shown up in her lab.

"Hey, Daniel," she said. "Sorry, I was just—"

"A long way away, from what I could tell," Daniel said. He tilted his head. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked. She refocused on her laptop, clicking through a couple of screens, checking her data, just in case she'd entered something wrong while she was wool-gathering.

"Oh, I don't know," Daniel said. He pulled a stool over to the lab bench and set his coffee cup down in front of him. "This thing with Jack's son and Kawalsky has to be unsettling. And..."

"And what?" Sam asked. She looked up to find Daniel fiddling with his glasses.

"I know we're not supposed to talk about it, but it seemed like you and Jack were—"

"Hold that thought, Daniel," Sam said. She jumped up off her stool, headed straight for the door. She closed it firmly, flicking the lock so no one could just barge in on their conversation. "Sorry. I just—"

"Would rather no one overhear us," Daniel said. "Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this here."

"It's okay," she said as she crossed the room to pour a fresh cup of coffee from her personal stash. She rejoined Daniel at the lab bench, shutting her laptop and sipping at her coffee.

"So, is there something going on between you two?" Daniel asked. "I mean, I know you guys agreed to leave it in the room, but it seems like you've been... closer lately."

"Noticed that, did you?" Sam said. She sighed. She'd hoped they weren't being that obvious, but it was hard to keep it in when it seemed like years of repression were melting away before her eyes. "I don't think much has changed. I mean, the regs are still in place, and until or unless that changes, things between Jack and I can't change."

"You and _Jack_ , huh?" Daniel asked with a sly smile. "Seems like things are already changing if you're calling him by his first name."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe. Even if they are, he's got Charlie to worry about right now."

"He seems almost giddy about getting Charlie back," Daniel said. 

"Can you blame him?" Sam asked. "This is such a gift. And even if it's not the same kid he lost all those years ago, it's still a version of his son. After what they've both been through, I'd say they deserve a little happiness."

"And you?" Daniel asked. "Do you deserve some happiness too?"

"That is a trick question," Sam said, pointing at her friend. "Everyone deserves to be happy. It's just not always possible to have the things that will make you happy."

"Or the people," Daniel said. "Have you thought about talking to General Hammond? I'm sure he'd be willing to entertain a change to the regulations. He likes you both, and owes you a great deal."

"And we've never asked for or wanted special favors," Sam said. She frowned. "I guess I've always hoped that it wouldn't take blackmail for the Joint Chiefs or the President to make that change. We shouldn't have to ask, Daniel. And we don't because we respect the rules too much."

"And so nothing changes," Daniel said. He sighed. "You know, I keep thinking that, one of these days, we're just... not going to come back from a mission. I'd hate to face that with regrets on my mind."

"What do you have regrets about?" Sam asked. She was more than curious; Daniel didn't talk a lot about the personal, even if Sam was the one person that knew him best.

"I think the thing I regret the most is closing myself off," Daniel said quietly. He huffed a laugh. "I think Sha're would have tanned my hide for it. She didn't get a lot about modern society, but she hated that I'd been so alone before we met. She actually made me promise that I'd find someone who could get me out of my head every now and again. You know, if she ever... well."

"So why haven't you dated before now?" Sam asked.

"I loved Sha're so much," he said. "After I lost her, I couldn't imagine anyone else taking her place. I didn't actually come to terms with her death until after I'd ascended, and once I came back, it seemed like I was always just too busy."

"There's always going to be a project or a crisis or something that'll get in the way," she said. "The trick is to find a way to set that aside and do something just for yourself."

"Like you did?" he asked. "With—what was his name?"

"Pete," Sam said, wincing. "His name was Pete, and I was utterly bored the entire time we were together. I couldn't talk about anything interesting I was doing, and his work as a cop just didn't interest me."

"Ouch," Daniel said.

"Yeah," Sam said. "I'm not proud of it. Ultimately, I guess he just didn't measure up. Jack casts a long shadow, you know?"

"I get it," Daniel said. "It's hard when you've loved someone that deeply. You're always going to measure everyone you date against that person. If they're lucky, they won't ever know it. It's not fair to them, but it's not like we're doing it on purpose."

"So why haven't you tried dating someone in the program?" Sam asked. "There are plenty of women in the mountain who'd drop everything to date you."

"You know, most of the civilian scientists don't date anyone in the mountain," Daniel said. "They have the same issues you do about not being able to tell anyone they're dating outside the program about what they do. Plus, most of them feel bad about being able to date anyone they want inside the program when you guys can't."

"Well, that's just stupid," Sam said with a frown. "I mean, I can't imagine you with any of the scientists, but there are a couple of officers I could set you up with. You guys just have to stop worrying about how we'd feel if you did."

"I do like a man in uniform," Daniel said.

Sam nearly choked on her coffee. "Daniel! Since when are you bisexual?"

"Um, since I was about fifteen?" Daniel said. "I basically grew up in academia, Sam. Sexual experimentation was practically a required course."

"Huh," Sam said. "I guess I never imagined you with another man. Anyone in particular I could set you up with?"

"I'll let you know," Daniel said, rolling his eyes. "But right now we're supposed to be talking about you and Jack, not my adventures in dating. Or lack thereof."

"Daniel," Sam said, sighing. "Nothing's going to happen between me and Jack until or unless the regs change. And the Joint Chiefs have never shown interest in making that change. It's not fair to the rest of the military if we get special treatment, no matter how many times we've saved the planet. I've made my peace with that."

Daniel held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, I get it. I'll stop asking. But maybe _you_ should start asking. Nothing ever changes until someone decides that the status quo isn't worth fighting for. And if Jack is worth fighting for, you should do it. You never know what you'll regret one day."

"Maybe," Sam said. She reached across and squeezed his hand. "Thanks for caring, anyway."

"Anytime," Daniel said.

Sam smiled and sipped at her coffee, which had gone a little cold. Not that she had noticed. She was thinking about what Daniel had said about the civilian scientists not dating because they didn't want to run afoul of the regs. She might not want to fight for less restrictions for herself, but doing it for others had appeal. She'd have to think about it and talk to General Hammond. If anyone could get it done, he could.

~o~

Jack's head popped up when he heard the knock on his office door. A smile broke out at the familiar face he found looking back at him. He pushed up to his feet as his visitor walked in.

"George," Jack said, reaching across the desk to shake his CO's hand. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I'm sure you weren't, Jack," Hammond said. "The packages for our two new friends were finished last night, so I thought I'd deliver them in person."

"You didn't have to do that," Jack said. He narrowed his eyes a bit. "Or I guess you did if the whole purpose of coming here was to meet them, and not just hand over their new IDs and such."

Hammond chuckled. "Guilty as charged."

"You want to use the office?" Jack asked. 

No matter how long he'd been the CO of the SGC, this office would always belong to George Hammond. He had no qualms about giving it up for however long the General needed it.

"If you don't mind," Hammond said. "The information isn't confidential, but I think it'll be more appropriate if I do the debrief in private."

"Nah," Jack said. He picked up the few files he'd been reviewing. "I'll just head for the canteen. Closer to the coffee and pie anyway."

"Have some sent up for me, would you?" Hammond asked as he moved behind the desk.

"Coffee or pie?" Jack asked, a little cheeky.

Hammond shook his head, a smile on his face. "We'll start with the coffee and see where the day goes."

"I'll have Walter bring you something," Jack said. 

He tapped his files on the door jamb and turned to go, but Hammond stopped him with a question. "How are our new friends doing?"

Jack turned around and leaned on the door jamb. "Kawalsky's doing okay. I sent Ferretti to talk to him. Figured he could use a friend. Of the two of them, he was more freaked out by what happened."

"And Charlie?"

"Charlie's adjusted pretty well," Jack said, the grin on his face stretching. "He spent the weekend at my place. Carter even took him out to spend some of my money. It's… good. Good to have him here. I think he feels the same."

"Good," Hammond said, giving a quick nod. "I'll admit to some concern for both of them. It won't be an easy adjustment for either of them, but Charlie's fortunate to have you to lean on. I'm glad you read Ferretti in on what's been going on. Colonel Kawalsky will need the same support system in place to fully adjust to his new life."

"He'll adapt," Jack said. "His sense of duty will help him through, if nothing else. He wrote a report for us, detailing all the differences between our two universes. I'm hoping we can use it as a blueprint for future engagements. There are some Goa'uld his SGC was able to terminate that we haven't managed to yet, and some discoveries they made that we haven't."

"Make sure you forward that report to me, Jack," Hammond said as he settled behind the desk. "I'm interested to know where our gaps are, and I'm sure the President will find it interesting as well when I brief him."

"Will do," Jack said. "I'll have that coffee up here in a jiffy."

"Have Walter send Colonel Kawalsky up here while you're at it," Hammond said.

Jack smiled. "It's good to have you back, sir."

"It's good to be back," Hammond said, smiling.

Jack pushed off the open door and headed off to do his boss' bidding.

~o~

Charlie knocked on his Dad's office door, shuffling his feet a little as he waited for the answer. He heard a muffled _come in_ , and turned the knob, stepping into the office and closing the door behind him.

He broke out into a huge grin when he realized who was sitting behind the desk. He quickly schooled his face into something more appropriate and came to attention.

"Lieutenant O'Neill, reporting as ordered, sir," he said, about as properly as he could. George Hammond might be his honorary uncle in his original universe, but he wasn't sure what relationship—if any—they'd had in this one, so he wanted to make a good impression.

"At ease, Lieutenant," Hammond said. He waved at the chair in front of the desk. "Have a seat."

Charlie sat and waited. Hammond watched him, but Charlie could only guess what the man was thinking or looking for. Far from it being uncomfortable, it was… reassuring, in its way. He hadn't expected to be embraced by the powers that be, mostly because they were paid to be suspicious. He only hoped that they saw fit to keep him in the program. He liked what he did, but more importantly, he liked working with his Dad, and was excited by the prospect of being able to continue doing it.

Hammond leaned back and asked, "How are you adjusting, son? None of this is easy, I'm sure."

"I'm doing alright, sir," Charlie said. "It helps to have my Dad around. He and the rest of SG-1 have been great about including me in their activities."

"I'm glad to hear it," Hammond said. "We'll still want you to sit down with one of the program's psychologists, just to be sure that there are no unforeseen ramifications during your transition. I've asked Colonel Kawalsky to do the same."

"I understand, sir," Charlie said. "So, does this mean I'll be able to stay with the program?"

"Yes," Hammond said, smiling. "Your father would have had a few choice words for me if I'd denied that particular request. Both you and the Colonel will join the program, though I'm leaving it up to your father where you'll be assigned."

"As long as it's to a 'gate team, I'm good," Charlie said. 

"I'll let you and your father work that one out," Hammond said with a smile. He leaned forward and picked up a packet, removing the contents, which he spread out on the desk. "We'll need you to sign the NDA, of course."

Hammond handed over a small stack of pages. Charlie scanned the sheets, finding the same boiler-plate language from when he'd entered the program a couple of years ago. Taking the pen Hammond handed him, he signed and initialed everywhere he was told to. When he was done, he handed the stack back. He was nervous, rubbing his hands on his thighs, his heart rate accelerating as he got closer to being legally a part of this universe.

Hammond started handing documents across the desk, explaining as he went. "First, birth certificate. As requested, we've listed Jonathan O'Neill as your father and Katherine Donovan as your mother. Your name is listed as Jonathan Charles Donovan. We had to change your birth date, so you'll want to memorize the new information. I've also pulled together some data about Katie Donovan's family history. Again, you'll want to review it, in case anyone asks."

"Is that likely?" Charlie asked. He'd never had any problems before, but this was a whole new universe, and just popping up like he had might cause problems.

"The NID have been after your father for years," Hammond said, not unkindly. "He has something we call the ATA gene. It's—"

"The gene that activates Ancient technology," Charlie finished for him. "We have it in my universe—well, my old universe, anyway. Dad had it, which was why the damned Ancient databases seemed to love him so much."

"Your father has the ATA gene in this universe as well," Hammond said. "His expression is particularly strong—as is yours, according to the DNA test that Dr. Lam provided me—which has often made him a target for shadow groups wanting access to technology we'd rather they didn't have. Now, we've sequestered your DNA results on paper in a secure location, but given that Jack's gene isn't a secret, these bad actors will probably just assume you have the same expression of the gene."

"So these guys have gone after Dad before," Charlie said. It made his gut twist knowing that his Dad was in so much danger just going to the store.

"Yes, they have," Hammond said. "As a result, he never goes anywhere unarmed, and there are security measures at his home that are not visible to the naked eye. Plus, everyone in the program now has a subcutaneous tracker implanted in their shoulder, so we can locate them wherever they've been taken."

"That actually makes me feel better," Charlie said, giving a sigh of relief. "We didn't have those back home. Not that we had a really bad problem with abductions, but it seems like a smart back-up plan."

"We'll have your tracker implanted once we finish here," Hammond said. He pulled more documents out of the stack. "Now, here's your driver's license, passport and military ID. Plus, banking records based on the list you provided. We also have information on your schooling, as well as diplomas."

Charlie took the documents as they were handed over, his eyes getting bigger as each stack was handed to him. "How'd you get all this done so fast? I mean, I just wrote this stuff up on Friday, and you've already got it all done."

Hammond smiled. "There's a whole basement full of people at Langley whose sole job it is to create any and every document needed for any government operation currently underway. The various branches of government don't often play nice together, but this is the only shop that does this, so we all use them. They're… scarily good at what they do."

"I'll say," Charlie said. Hammond handed him the large envelope it all came out of, so Charlie tucked it all back inside, as neatly as he could so he wouldn't have to sort it out later. His Dad had shown him the safe at home, where he could store his off-duty weapon and any other valuables, so that would be his first stop after work.

"Now, did you have any questions?" Hammond asked.

"Not a question, maybe, but a request," Charlie said. "If I may?"

"Something we missed?"

"Yes and no, sir," Charlie said. He took a deep breath. His Dad would probably kill him for this, but he was going to ask anyway. "Would you consider requesting that the fraternization regs be relaxed for the SGC?"

Hammond's eyebrow popped up. "You haven't been here long enough to form an attachment, and since you never mentioned anyone special to your father, I have to believe this is for someone else."

"It's—it's for my Dad," Charlie said, more nervous than he'd probably ever been. "And Sam. Er, Colonel Carter." Hammond didn't say anything, so Charlie just plowed on. "You see, I know how hard it is, to be a member of the SGC and not be able to date anyone you meet here. I know the regs exist for a reason, but the truth is that anyone we might consider dating outside the program—even someone else in the military—well, we'd have to lie to them about what we do. All the time. It's why my General Hammond agreed to relax the rules. Not just because my Dad and Sam wanted to be together, but because there are a lot of other people here who're lonely and isolated because they don't have anyone they can trust. I mean, how could I be sure that any woman I met at a bar wasn't really with the NID and just trying to get information or access from me? It just… makes it hard. For all of us, not just my family."

"I see your point," Hammond said after a few moments' quiet thought. "Now, I have a question for you, if I may?"

"Sure," Charlie said.

"You know that your mother is alive in this universe," Hammond said carefully. "So I have to wonder why you're asking for this for your father and Colonel Carter. Most children of broken families would rather see their parents reconcile. Yet, that doesn't seem to be your focus."

Charlie shrugged. "I know it seems weird, but my parents haven't been married for a long time. In my universe, it was because Mom died in a car crash. Here, it's because my parents got divorced. I mean, I could try to get them back together, I suppose, but I don't really know my Mom. Not the one I lost, or the one here. But I know Colonel Carter, and I know she made my Dad happy. I just want him to have that happiness again. And to hear him talk, he and my Mom are better as friends anyway, so I'd feel like I was trying to manipulate them if I tried to get them back together."

"Fair enough," Hammond said with a faint smile. "Seems like you and I knew each other fairly well in your universe."

"Yeah, we did," Charlie said with a smile. "You and my Dad go way back, so I've always called you Uncle George. Did you know him? The Charlie from this universe?"

"No, I didn't," Hammond said. "But I'm looking forward to getting to know you, young man. Your father has been practically giddy from the moment you arrived. For that, I'm grateful. We'll have to play the 'Uncle George' part by ear, though."

"Thank you, sir," Charlie said. "I'm looking forward to learning all about this universe."

"Good," Hammond said. "Now, unless there's something else you need, they're waiting for you in the infirmary. And tell your father he owes me a piece of pie."

Charlie grinned as he stood up and came to attention. "Will do, sir."

~o~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The information about _Star Wars_ and _Terminator_ is completely true. Luke and Leia weren't originally siblings (which is why Leia kisses Luke in _The Empire Strikes Back_ ), nor was Darth Vader Luke's father in Lucas' original plan. It wasn't until Lucas was writing _The Return of the Jedi_ that he finally decided to make them siblings, the children of Darth Vader. And yes, according to James Cameron, Stallone was offered the part of the Terminator originally. Weird.
> 
> And it's pretty well-known by now that the Tolkien family was reluctant to approve any films or tv shows based on JRR Tolkien's works. They'd been burned before by poor versions of the books, so Peter Jackson had to do a lot of fast talking to get their approval. I wondered if, in some alternate universe, they'd declined to approve any film versions of the books, which is how I came up with that reference.


	7. Chapter 7

~o~

Charlie rounded the corner, softly whistling a tune he'd heard on the radio that morning. He was grateful that most of the music he remembered from his universe was still the same. There were a few differences, and he was enjoying exploring them as much as he could. His work schedule didn't allow for much downtime at the moment, and it wasn't like radio signals could penetrate through all the granite and shielding in the mountain, but thankfully his father and some of the others were keeping him well-supplied on that front. 

Amusingly, it was Teal'c who'd proved the most resourceful. He was still trying to wrap his brain around that one.

He stepped through the door to Colonel Carter's lab and stopped short. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize you weren't alone. I'll just—"

"No, it's okay, Charlie," Sam said, waving him into the room. She glanced over at the young woman standing beside her, stiff and perfectly at attention. "Oh, relax, Cassie. This is Charlie—sorry, John Donovan, the General's son. I was telling you about him the other day. Cassie Fraiser is sort of my adopted daughter."

"Cadet," Charlie said, nodding as he glanced at Sam. He hoped she couldn't see how nervous he'd suddenly become. "Please relax. My Dad's told me a little about you, but he said you were at the Academy."

Cassie relaxed, a smile blooming on her face. It was like a gut-punch how she went from pretty to beautiful. 

"Lieutenant," Cassie said. "I've been hearing good things about you from Sam. I guess a 'welcome to the family' is in order. How are you settling in?"

"Thanks," Charlie said, smiling in return. "You can call me Charlie, if you'd like. I think I'm settling in okay. So much is the same that it kind of shocks me whenever I stumble on something different, you know?"

Cassie glanced at Sam and shrugged. "I don't know if they told you, but I'm not from around here. Living on Earth wasn't exactly easy, compared to where I came from. So much is different that it was kind of a rough adjustment. You probably have it easier than I did."

"I guess I never thought about it that way," Charlie said. "I've been trying to catch up on movies, TV, music. Thank fuck that hockey hasn't changed that much." He cringed. "Sorry."

"No, I think that's about the right reaction to that, really," Sam said. She turned to Charlie. "Did you need something?"

"No, I was just coming by to see if you were free for lunch," Charlie said.

"I wish I could, but not today," Sam said, glancing around her office balefully. "But Cassie's free. You two should hit the canteen. Compare notes. Cassie's been doing a summer rotation with the SGC prior to graduation. She's one of three Cadets we got this year."

"We had a similar program back h—well, back in my old universe," Charlie said. He cringed internally at almost screwing that up, but decided to cut himself a little slack. It was just going to take time to see this place as home, no matter how much he wanted to be there. "Matter of fact, that's how I got recruited to the Program."

"Some things never change," Sam said, smiling. "Now, both of you, scram. I've got a meeting in a bit. I get to listen to a bunch of scientists supposedly at the top of their fields underwhelm me with their work. Joy."

Charlie laughed. "Well, I'm game if you are, Cassie."

"Sure," Cassie said. She turned to Sam and winked. "See you later, Aunt Sam."

"Just don't scandalize the folks in the mess," Sam said. "That's your Uncle Jack's job."

"I could totally see that," Charlie said, laughing. "Shall we, Cadet?"

Cassie smiled at him as she stepped in front of him to exit Sam's lab. "Why yes, Lieutenant. I think we shall."

Charlie glanced back at Sam, who winked at him, her own smile stretching off her face. He had the feeling he'd just been set up on a blind date, but he could hardly complain. Cassie was pretty, and pretty smart if she was a Cadet at the Air Force Academy. His universe—the one he'd come from—didn't have a Cassie Fraiser, so he had to wonder if the reason he hadn't met anyone he was remotely interested in was that his heart was meant for someone who didn't exist in that universe. 

That thought made him blush. Fortunately, Cassie was walking in front of him, so she couldn't see. Plus, for as nice as it was to meet someone he might be interested in, the fraternization regs still applied, and until or unless General Hammond pushed through a change, he'd have to tread carefully.

They made it to the elevator without incident. Cassie turned to him, a speculative look on her face. "You know, we don't have to eat lunch together, if you'd rather make plans with someone else."

The 'someone you know' part was unspoken, but Charlie heard it nonetheless. "I'd actually like to have lunch with you, if you're willing. It might be nice to hear from someone else who's lost their own world and found a way to thrive in this one. I mean, I'm okay with everything that's happened, but it'd be good to have some perspective, too."

"I can give you that," Cassie said. "But from what I hear, you're doing pretty good on your own. Sam, Jack, Daniel, Teal'c. They're all my family. They took care of me when I had no one, and I've always been grateful for that. No matter what happens, I know I can count on them."

"Yeah, they're pretty great," Charlie said. "Even Teal'c. He knows his pop culture, too. It's kind of amazing how much he knows, really."

"He's a student of human nature," Cassie said as the elevator car arrived. They stepped inside, and Charlie hit the button for the correct level. "Plus, he's got a lot of time on his hands. He can't train all the time—he really doesn't need to—so he sort of undertook pop culture as a research exercise. It's been really funny to see what catches his attention."

"I bet," Charlie said. "We didn't have any Jaffa in our SGC. It's kind of amazing to find they're just like us. Hardcore warriors, but they have families and homes and they worry about the same sorts of things we do. Well, maybe not when the next _Star Wars_ movie will come out, but a lot of the same things, anyway."

Cassie laughed, long and loud. "You should hear it when he waxes all poetic about _The Lord of the Rings_. It's kind of adorable. Just don't tell him I said that."

"I don't have a death wish," Charlie said. "Still, I could totally see him getting all excited about the Battle of Helm's Deep. I can't wait to see the films."

"You've never seen them?" Cassie asked. She sounded scandalized.

"They never made the books into movies where I come from," Charlie said as the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors swished open. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing them."

"Sounds like a movie marathon is in our future," Cassie said. She paused. "I mean, that is, if you want. I could show you. If you're not busy or anything."

Charlie thought it was cute that she was stammering, blushing like a teenager. It made him feel better, like he wasn't the only one affected by meeting her.

"I'd love to see the movies with you," Charlie said. "Maybe we could do it at my Dad's house one weekend when you have liberty. It'd be fun."

Cassie's smile turned shy, just as they entered the mess. He didn't say more, but he was secretly pleased. Meeting Cassie had been a total accident, but he was really glad he had. 

~o~

The doorbell ringing startled Sam. She and Cassie had come over for dinner with Jack and Charlie, but as far as she knew, no one else from the team had been invited. They’d watched a James Bond movie after dinner, because apparently Charlie’s universe never made more than a handful, and he’d fallen in love with the series at a young age.

"You expecting anyone?" Jack asked, turning to Sam.

"It's your house," she said, shaking her head. "No one knows I'm here. Well, Daniel knows, and Teal'c probably suspects, but neither of them would say anything."

"You guys act like you've just gotten caught out after curfew," Charlie said.

Jack winced. "Probably not far from the truth."

"You gonna answer it?" Cassie asked. When Sam and Jack continued to stare at each other like a couple of deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, Cassie gave an aggrieved sigh. She got up and headed for the front door. "Fine. I'll bite the bullet. Charlie, you're my backup."

Sam stared at the front door nervously. They hadn't been up to anything, really. She and Jack were sharing the couch, but as soon as the doorbell rang, they'd split apart and were now sitting on opposite ends. A familiar voice carried from the front porch, making Sam feel like a naughty teenager all over again.

General Hammond stepped into the foyer, smiling kindly at Cassie as he endured a hug from the over-enthusiastic young woman.

"I apologize for interrupting family time," Hammond said. "If this is a bad time, we can do this tomorrow morning at the Mountain."

"Come on in, George," Jack said. He stood up and shook the other man's hand. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, thank you, Jack," Hammond said. "I won't be long. I just wanted to discuss some changes I'm planning to make at the SGC. I didn't want you to be surprised when the announcement goes out."

"I can disappear," Sam said, making to stand up. 

"Please stay, Colonel Carter," Hammond said, waving her back into her seat. "What I have to say affects you as well."

"We're just going to… ummm…" Cassie stammered.

"Head upstairs," Charlie said, grabbing her hand. "We'll be upstairs. With the door closed. Talking."

"Talking," Cassie said, sounding immensely relieved. "Yeah, we'll just be talking. That's all."

The two of them practically bolted for the stairs, disappearing around the corner within seconds. Sam would think it was cute how stuck on each other they'd become in just a few days, except for the part where she and her CO—the one she was sort of romantically involved with—were sitting across from the Director of Homeworld Security.

"Was it something I said?" Hammond asked, smiling as he sat down across from them.

Jack smiled. "They're not subtle, that's for sure. Still, it's nice to see them hitting it off." He paused when Hammond chuckled. "So, what's on your mind, George?"

"First of all, I want to apologize for how long this has taken," Hammond said.

"What?" Sam asked, completely flummoxed.

"I've been working with the President for several months on changing some of the regulations as they apply to the SGC," Hammond said. "I realize that it's not something you've asked for or expected, but I feel like this change is long overdue."

"What, exactly, are you changing?" Jack asked, though Sam thought they both had a pretty good idea.

"It's come to my attention recently that working at the SGC can be severely isolating," Hammond said. "To that end, the President and I have been leaning on the Joint Chiefs to alter the fraternization regs for the SGC. Effective immediately, restrictions on personal relationships between personnel at the SGC will be permitted, providing certain conditions are met."

"And what would those be?" Jack asked.

"The couple in question will be required to report their personal relationship to their superior officer or officers," Hammond said. "They will have to undergo a counseling session with a base psychologist, to assess whether or not they can cope with the added stress of having a significant other in the same command. Provided the psychologist signs off, the relationship will be allowed on a trial basis."

Sam narrowed her eyes. "How long is the trial period?"

"Thirty days," Hammond said. "If, within that time, the couple in question can demonstrate that their personal relationship won't interfere with their work, they'll be given permanent dispensation to continue. If the relationship ends, the couple are required to disclose that to their CO and the base psychologist. Again, they'll need to demonstrate that they can work amicably together. If not, the senior member of the pair would get the choice of whether to stay at the SGC, or be reassigned without repercussions to their career."

"That's—huh," Sam said, cocking her head. "Brilliant, really. Why'd it take so long?"

"The Joint Chiefs have always been reluctant to make a change of this kind in order not to give the impression that the SGC is getting special treatment," Hammond said. "But the reality of serving at the SGC is that, due to the nature of the work, secrecy is paramount. That puts added stresses on outside relationships that make it very difficult for those relationships to survive. Morale tends to become an issue in situations like this. If it makes you feel better, the Joint Chiefs have agreed that, on joint task forces like this one—including Area 51, Antarctica and any other projects we may fund in the future, plus a few in other areas of the world related to anti-terrorism activities—these will be the rules going forward."

"Well, I have to say I'm surprised they got off their asses and actually did something," Jack said.

"Jack!" Sam barked, more than a little shocked at his words.

"He's not wrong, Colonel," Hammond said. "This has been a long time coming. Truthfully, the only reason the President and I were able to push this through is because there's been a change in leadership on the Staff. The more… militant members have retired, and the new appointees are much more open to creative solutions to morale issues."

"Do you plan to make the announcement yourself, or will you leave that to me?" Jack asked.

"I'll take care of it in the morning," Hammond said. "I'd rather not put you in that position, frankly. It could potentially appear self-serving, which isn't what we want."

"Pardon?" Sam asked. She didn't think they'd been at all obvious, but Hammond also tended to be very observant, so maybe they'd given something away.

"Relax, Colonel," Hammond said, smiling kindly. "Charlie was the one who brought up the fact that we owe you and Jack a great debt, and that this would be one way to repay that debt. I'll admit that the old romantic in me sees his point, but you need to know that the President and I did this for everyone under the auspices of Homeworld Security, not just you. I'm well aware that, though there have been… romantic inclinations between you two, that you've never acted on those feelings. I'm proud of you for that, but also sad that our lack of action has stolen so many years from you. Hopefully this will begin to redress that."

"Okay," Jack said, drawing out the 'o'. "She still reports to me. How would that work? Hypothetically."

Hammond chuckled. "You've just notified your CO—who approves, by the way—so now it's time for you both to make an appointment with the base psychologist for evaluation. He'll send his recommendation to me, which would begin your probation period."

"And the fact that I'm still under his command?" Sam asked.

"I'll leave that to you two to sort out," Hammond said, smiling. "I trust that you'll find a way to make it work." He stood up, still smiling. "I suppose congratulations are in order?"

Jack stood up, tucking his hands in his pockets, looking like the cat that got the cream. "Well, I'll have to talk it over with Sam, but I think it's safe to say we'll be announcing something very soon."

"Good," Hammond said. "Now, I'll see myself out. Tell those two young people to stay out of trouble."

"Good night, George," Jack said.

Sam sat mute, struck dumb by the major left turn her life had just taken. Jack walked the General to the door, returning just a moment later to sit back down, considerably closer to her than he'd been during their chat with Hammond. He took one of her hands and pulled her into his side.

"You okay?" 

"I'm—yeah, maybe?" Sam said. "I just never thought they'd actually do it. Daniel and I were talking about this the other day. He said most of the scientists in the Mountain don't actually date their co-workers because they feel it isn't fair that they can and their military counterparts can't."

"Huh," Jack said. "I guess I didn't realize that was even going on. Daniel doesn't talk about dating much."

"No, he doesn't," Sam said. She wouldn't tell Jack about Daniel unless he gave her permission, but privately, she thought maybe this was his chance to find some happiness now that the regulations had been changed. "So, what does that mean for us? I mean, I still report to you. How would an actual relationship work between us?"

Jack squeezed her close. "Just answer one question, and we'll sort out the rest later."

"Okay," Sam said. "Shoot."

"Do you want to be with me?" he asked. "Married, engaged or living in sin. I'm not picky."

Sam pulled back, staring at him as if he'd grown another head. "Of course I do. Any or all of the above. Jack, you have to know I'm in love with you. Have been for years."

"I love you, too, Sam," Jack said, pressing a sweet kiss to her lips. "But I'm not going to assume anything. I want this to work between us."

"Me too," Sam said, smiling. She leaned in and pressed a mostly chaste kiss to his lips. "Me too."

~o~


	8. Chapter 8

~o~

Kawalsky walked into the briefing room to find Charlie, Ferretti and a guy he didn't recognize sitting around the table. He took a seat beside Charlie, glancing around as he did. He couldn't help but remember what had happened the last time he'd been in that room, so he was feeling unaccountably nervous.

"Any idea what's going on?" Charlie asked.

"Not a clue, kid," Kawalsky said, shaking his head. "You hear anything, Lou?"

"Well, there's a rumor on the grapevine that the General's about to announce relaxed frat regs," Ferretti said. "But I doubt he'd have called us in here for that."

"And you'd be right."

All four of them stood swiftly as Jack walk into the room, a couple of folders clutched in one hand. He sat down at the head of the table and looked at the four of them, standing at attention across from each other.

"Oh, relax," Jack said, waving a hand at them. "This won't hurt, I promise."

"What's going on, sir?" the guy Kawalsky didn't know asked as they all retook their seats.

"First, Lieutenant Colonel Al Reynolds, meet Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Kawalsky and Lieutenant John Donovan, my son," Jack said. "Gentlemen, Colonel Reynolds is the CO of SG-2."

"Colonel Kawalsky, I've heard a lot about you," Reynolds said. "You were declared missing in action in the early days of the program, if I'm not mistaken."

Jack winced. "Yeah, he was. This Colonel Kawalsky came through the 'gate from a parallel universe. And before you ask—" Jack said, holding up a hand when Reynolds opened his mouth "—I have no idea how any of that shit works. You want to ask questions, go find Carter."

Kawalsky snorted. Same old Jack. He noticed Reynolds smirking as well, which drew a chuckle out of him.

"Does that mean the Lieutenant did as well?" Reynolds asked.

"Yes, it does," Jack said. "This information is being kept need-to-know. But since I'm assigning him to SG-2, I figure that means you have a need to know."

"Yes, sir," Reynolds said.

"This is his jacket, what there is of it," Jack said, sliding the folder over to the other man. "For practical purposes, he'll be known as John around the base. We don't want the NID or anyone from the Trust to get wind of who he really is, so let's just keep this all under our hats."

"I think we all know what Top Secret means, Sir," Ferretti said. 

"Good," Jack said. "As for Colonel Kawalsky, unless you object Colonel Ferretti, I'm assigning him to SG-4 to get him acclimated to how we do things around here."

"No objections, sir," Ferretti said. "I figure it'll be just like old times. As long as he remembers who's in charge out there, we'll do just fine."

"As long as you remember who's got more time in rank, we'll do just fine," Kawalsky said. He figured he deserved the disgruntled smirk he got in return, but it was worth it.

"Is this going to be a permanent change, sir?" Reynolds asked. "Wallace is due to rotate back from his knee injury in a few more weeks, pending the doctors' clearance."

"For the moment, this is the configuration we're going with," Jack said. "I know it's not customary for us to have five-man teams, but I wanted to put these two with experienced COs as we evaluate their readiness for active duty." Jack paused, wincing slightly. "That doesn't mean I don't have confidence in your abilities in the field, but—"

"I get it," Kawalsky said, holding up his hands to ward off any more comments from his CO and old friend. "I'm okay with being on probation, as long as it gets me back in the field."

"Good," Jack said. He passed the other file over to Ferretti, pointing to both he and Reynolds. "We'll give it a month, gentlemen. I'll expect an unbiased evaluation from both of you, and we'll determine next steps after that. Everybody clear?"

A chorus of _Yes, sirs_ echoed around the room.

"Okay, now that that's over with, I need pie," Jack said, pushing back from the table. "Who's gonna join me?"

"I'm in," Charlie said, practically jumping out of his chair.

Kawalsky chuckled. "I could do with some pie, myself. What about you, Lou?"

"If they're serving Apple, I'm in," Ferretti said as he got up to join them.

"I think I'll just—"

"Bullshit, Al," Ferretti said, slapping him on the arm. "Come for the pie, stay for the floor show."

"Floor show?" Reynolds asked, one eyebrow raised.

They all headed for the door as Ferretti answered. "Yeah, Kawalsky and the General go way back. You don't want to miss the stories. They're _epic_."

"I'm not telling any stories," Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"Sure, you're not," Kawalsky said, smiling as he brushed past on his way to the elevator.

"I want to hear the stories," Charlie piped up.

Jack pressed his hands over Charlie's ears. "There are no stories. I'm not sure who's been lying to you, but there are no interesting stories to tell. And even if there were, tender ears should not hear them."

Charlie shook loose from his father's hold. "Tender ears. You do know I graduated from the Academy, right? I've heard my roommate jerking off in the middle of the night. I don't think I have any innocence left."

Kawalsky just laughed at Jack's scandalized look. He patted his CO on his back. "Sorry, Jack. I think you lost that round."

~o~

Jack fiddled nervously with his shirt button as he stood in the kitchen, glancing at the clock every few minutes. He and Sam were hosting a barbeque for their friends; sort of a celebration of Charlie joining the family and he and Sam coming out of the relationship closet, so to speak.

They'd invited Sarah to join them, and Jack planned to tell her about Charlie well before the rest of the guests arrived. He wasn't sure how she'd react to the whole situation, especially since it had been weeks since Charlie and Kawalsky had come through the 'gate. He hoped she'd be grateful to get her son back, but there was every chance she'd be angry that he'd kept it from her for so long.

Truth was, he'd thought about telling her right away, but had held back for purely selfish reasons. Once Sarah was in the know, he'd have to share his son with her, and he hadn't been quite ready to do that. But, he'd take the anger and any recriminations she sent his way. He had— _they_ had—Charlie back. The rest was just details.

"Relax, Jack," Sam said, sidling up beside him where he stood staring out into the back yard. 

Daniel and Kawalsky were working on the barbeque, getting it ready to grill the meat. Their friendship had been a surprise, but a welcome one. Daniel would hide in his office if not for the few friends he had on staff. Knowing that there was another person dedicated to pulling him out of his head when Jack himself was too busy to do it was a relief. And giving Kawalsky yet another person who cared about him kept the man from getting too lost in his head over the whole losing-your-universe thing.

"Do you ever wonder what the SGC would have been like if Kawalsky hadn't died?" he asked.

Sam sighed. "Every damned day. I will never accept that we didn't do everything we could to save him. Getting him back is like some kind of gift, but it will never make up for what it was like to lose him."

"I've never heard you talk like that before," Jack said, turning to her and pulling her close. 

"I can't be the only one thinking it," Sam said. "I just don't say it out loud because there's no point. Kawalsky died because we couldn't save him."

"But now we have him back," Jack said. "You're right that it's not the same, but that doesn't mean it's not good. He's been good for everyone. I think even Ferretti seems… lighter somehow."

"And how about you?" Sam asked. "How are you feeling about all this?"

"I'm grateful to get Charlie back," Jack said immediately, because that was easily the best part of the whole deal. "But I know it hasn't been easy, for either of them."

"Getting his mom back will help," Sam said. "Give him something else to hold on to here. Though I think you're underestimating how he feels about being here. You and he were close in his universe; he missed that, like a phantom limb, I think. It's done a lot for him to get you back, too."

"God, Sam," Jack whispered. "Losing him… I couldn’t imagine living in this world without him. And knowing it was my gun… I never blamed Sarah for leaving me over it. She never said it, but I know she blamed me."

"And now you're giving her back her son," Sam said. She smiled, pushing up to drop a soft kiss on his lips. "Are you ready to talk to her about all this?"

"Not even close," Jack said. "But she deserves to know. And I know that Charlie really wants to meet her. I can't keep him from her any longer. It's not fair to either of them."

"Well, I sent Charlie and Cassie out for a while," Sam said. "So, you can give Sarah as much time as she needs to come to terms with everything."

"How do you feel about that?" Jack asked, raising one eyebrow. "Charlie and Cassie?"

"Your son and my—well, daughter?" Sam asked. She smiled. "I actually think it's sweet. They can understand each other in a way maybe no one else can."

Jack would have responded to that, but the doorbell rang, leaving him no more time to contemplate how this would go. He turned around and knocked on the window, getting Daniel's attention. Daniel patted Kawalsky on the shoulder and headed for the house.

"You ready, Daniel?" Jack asked as the other man came in through the back door.

"Sure," Daniel said. "I have the video cued up for her. She seemed to get it the last time, so this should be more review than anything else."

"Well, she was a teacher," Jack said, smiling. "Chuck's not coming inside?"

"He thought he should maybe wait until after you'd broken the news about Charlie," Daniel said. "Considering he's supposed to be dead. He didn't want to scare her half to death."

The doorbell rang again, seeming almost impatient. "Right," Jack said. 

He headed for the front door, swinging it wide open to find his ex-wife standing on the front porch. She looked good—happy. He only hoped he wasn't going to break her with the news he had.

"Sarah, thanks for coming," Jack said, beckoning her inside.

"We hardly talk anymore, Jack," she said as she stepped inside. "I wasn't sure I should, but something in the way you asked made me curious."

"I'm glad you did," he said, smiling. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Come on into the kitchen."

Jack turned and headed for the back of the house, trusting Sarah to follow. When he turned the corner, he saw Sam and Daniel sitting at the table, a pitcher of lemonade and some glasses sitting between them.

Sam rose and joined Jack. "Mrs. O'Neill, it's good to see you again."

"Please, it's just Sarah," his ex said, reaching out to shake Sam's hand.

Jack ushered the two women to the table. "Sarah, you remember Doctor Daniel Jackson?"

"I remember," Sarah said, clear suspicion in her tone. "It's nice to see you again Doctor Jackson."

"Sarah," Daniel said, rising and shaking her hand. "Please, call me Daniel. Have a seat. We'd like to talk to you about something."

"This is all so mysterious," Sarah said, but did as requested.

Daniel settled at the head of the table, with Sarah to his left. Sam had taken the seat to Daniel's right, so Jack put himself beside Sarah and took her purse, setting it on the other end of the table.

"I know it's been a few years, Sarah," Daniel said, "but I need to remind you that you signed a non-disclosure agreement with the SGC to not discuss anything you saw or heard during the incident at the hospital."

"Yes, although I didn't really see much," Sarah said. "Well, apart from… whatever that was posing as my son."

"And we didn't really explain much of it," Sam said. "I apologize for that, but the Program was in its infancy, so we were reluctant to expose too much of it to outsiders."

"Has something changed?" Sarah asked.

Jack smiled. Sarah had always been sharp.

"You could say that," Daniel said. "What I'd like to do is show you a video that will explain more about the Program, and then we can talk about some specific information that I think you'll be interested in."

"Okay," she said. She glanced at Jack, then back at Daniel as he turned the laptop toward her and pressed play.

Jack mostly tuned the video out; he'd seen it a number of times over the years, but as an insider, it always felt like old news. Seeing it through Sarah's eyes, watching as she reacted to each new revelation, he could appreciate how much like a science fiction movie it seemed.

When the video stopped, Sarah shook her head. "This thing is really real? It's not a joke, right? We really go to other planets?"

"It's all real, Sarah," Daniel said. "As a matter of fact, we've been to different galaxies through the Stargate. We've made some powerful allies, and some enemies as well. But more importantly, we've advanced human understanding of the stars by leaps and bounds."

"That might be the most exciting part," Sam said, her eyes sparkling. "The technologies we've discovered and developed have the potential to save lives. And like Daniel said, our understanding of physics has accelerated considerably since we first opened the Stargate."

"And yet no one knows about it," Sarah said.

"There are very good reasons for that," Jack said. "As it stands, the international community has been jockeying for control of the Program for years. Politics on a galactic scale is no different than on a planetary scale. Part of our job is to protect the 'gate from exploitation by other countries who wouldn’t act ethically unless they were forced to. We'll declassify the Program someday, but that's pretty far into the future at this point."

"So why tell me at all?" Sarah asked. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Hey, Jack, I think the barbeque is almost ready," Kawalsky said, stepping in through the back slider.

"Oh my god," Sarah whispered. "Chuck?"

Jack winced. "Great timing, Kawalsky. We were just about to tell Sarah why we read her in to the Program."

"Sorry?" Kawalsky said. He pulled the door shut behind him. "I'm the reason they let you in on what's been going on, Sarah. Well, me and my second in command."

"You—you're—I thought Jack said you were dead," Sarah said.

"Charles Kawalsky died in the line of duty," Sam said gently. "Last month, we had an unscheduled offworld activation at the SGC. Kawalsky came through the 'gate, along with his Lieutenant. They're from an alternate universe, but due to the circumstances of their arrival, they can't go back."

"And you're okay with that?" Sarah asked Kawalsky.

"Oh, hell no," Kawalsky said. "But I'm here and I can't change that. I'll adjust. It'll just take time. Fortunately, I have Jack to lean on."

Sarah got up and pulled Kawalsky into a hug, surprising everyone in the room, including Kawalsky. "I'm so glad we got you back," she whispered.

"Yeah, well, if you're glad to see me, you're going to be ecstatic to see my Lieutenant," Kawalsky said as he pulled back.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Subtle, Chuck. Really subtle."

Sarah turned around, spearing Jack with her best school-teacher glare. "What _else_ aren't you telling me?"

"Charlie came through with me," Kawalsky said before anyone else could.

"My Charlie?" Sarah said, tears springing to her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand, turning to look at Jack. "He's not lying to me, is he? Charlie's alive and here, right now. I didn't hear him wrong?"

Jack got up and settled his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently. "He's not lying. Charlie's alive. He's not _our_ Charlie, but he's our son, and we have him back now."

"Oh, god, Jack," she said, practically falling into him, crying in earnest. 

Jack wrapped his arms around her, rocking her gently as Daniel, Kawalsky and Sam quietly left the room. He hated being the reason she was crying, but he hoped this was a good cry and not a bad cry.

She finally pulled back long minutes later, dabbing at her cheeks and chuckling ruefully. "I'm sorry, Jack. I know you always hated it when I cried on you."

"It's okay, Sarah, really," he said. "I can't say I don't understand the impulse. I've—it's been shocking to walk into a room and he's just… there. I'm just so fucking grateful to have him back that I can't even be upset that he's been ripped away from his own universe."

"Did he… does he want to meet me?" she asked in a small voice.

"He asked if he could the day he arrived," he said, smiling. "Daniel had to say no, but now that we know he's going to be here permanently… I couldn't keep him from you, Sarah. I knew that, so as soon as we knew he was staying, I started laying the groundwork to get you read in all the way so you could be told why we got him back."

"Thank you," Sarah said. She reached out and cupped his cheek. "Thank you for giving me back my son. Now, when can I meet him?"

"He'll be back shortly," Sam said from the doorway. "I had him run a couple of errands for the party so that we could read you in before you met."

"Thank you, Sam," Sarah said, looking over at the other woman. "For everything."

"I haven't done much," Sam said. She walked in, stopping next to Jack and smiling at him. "Honestly, Charlie's a great kid. We've been getting to know each other over the last few weeks. Apparently, back in his universe, I was his step-mother."

Sarah glanced between the two of them, narrowing her eyes a bit. Jack squirmed under the scrutiny. "Looks like maybe you're destined to be his step-mother in this universe, too."

Jack practically choked, causing Sam to break out laughing. "How'd you do that?" he asked.

"I know what you look like when you're in love, Jack," Sarah said, smiling. "It looks good on you, by the way." She turned to Sam. "And I'm glad my son will have you in his life. Jack hasn't talked about you much, but he's said enough for me to know that you're just what he needs. What they both need."

"We're not planning on cutting you out of our lives, Sarah," Jack said. "I hope you know that."

"I do," Sarah said. "Just me being here, having this conversation with you all tells me that you wouldn't keep him from me. But he's a grown man—at least, I'm assuming he's grown up—so he can make his own choices. I'll be grateful for whatever time he's willing to give me."

"His mother died in a car crash when he was young," Jack said quietly, "so he'll probably want to spend a lot of time with you, to make up for the time he's lost."

"Poor thing," Sarah said.

"You should probably also know that we had to create a new identity for him," Jack said. "On paper, he's the son of an old girlfriend of mine. He'll go by John Donovan, officially, but I'm sure everyone will still call him Charlie."

"May I ask why?"

"He died," Jack said, low and pained. "Resurrecting the son I lost all those years ago would send up red flags to people we don't want attention from. It's as much for his protection as it is for ours. There are factions within and outside our government that wouldn't hesitate to kidnap him for a variety of reasons, none of them good."

"Can't you protect him?" Sarah asked.

"I will do everything in my power to protect him, Sarah," Jack said fiercely. He had no intention to bury his son a second time. "But it pays to be cautious in our line of work."

"That's all I ask," Sarah said. "Now, where'd Chuck go? I'd like to talk to him before my son comes home."

Jack couldn't help himself; he grinned from ear to ear, just hearing those words from her.

~o~

Charlie was laughing so hard he had to stop and lean against the porch post to catch his breath. He and Cassie had run out for ice and beer, among other things, while his Dad and Sam prepped the food. 

Even though they'd spent a little time together over the last week, it was still nice to hang out with her. And now that the announcement on the frat regs had gone out, he didn't have to hide how much he liked Cassie and wanted to get to know her.

He wasn't the only one, either. Romance, it seemed, had blossomed in full at the SGC in the wake of General Hammond's announcement. The locker rooms were awash with talk of who was dating who, who planned to come out of the relationship closet—as his Dad had dubbed it—and who might be taking the plunge next. Hope, such a fragile thing under normal circumstances, had become a fixture at the Mountain. Charlie wouldn't take credit for it, but he felt like maybe he'd had a hand.

"You okay?" Cassie asked as he gasped for breath.

Charlie waved her off. "Yeah, fine. Just—the image of that guy, covered in flour and sputtering about inspections was almost too much for my brain. I so wish I'd been there to see that."

"You can't tell me no one tried that trick where you're from," Cassie said. "We learned it from one of the Firsties, who learned it from his squadron leader when he was a doolie."

"Oh I'm not saying we weren't just as creative," Charlie said, winking. "Just, no one in my squadron was brave enough to raid the kitchens. I did hear about someone stealing some pots and pans and hanging them from the ceiling in one of the dorm rooms. Made a helluva racket when the door was opened after curfew."

"Oh my god!" Cassie nearly shrieked. "Why didn't we think of that? Seriously, I know of a couple of guys who could use some attitude adjustments. A couple hundred tours for being out after curfew would be just about right."

"Just be careful they don't trace the theft back to you," Charlie warned, pointing a finger at her.

"What do you take me for, Lieutenant?" Cassie asked with mock outrage. "I've been at this over three years. I think I can sneak around without getting caught."

The front door swung open before Charlie could reply. His Dad poked his head out, looking between them with a frown on his face. "You two gonna hang out on the porch all afternoon?"

"We were just—"

"Telling stories, Jack," Cassie broke in before he could admit to any particular story. "That's all. Just comparing notes."

"Really," Jack said, eyes narrowing. "Well, there's someone here I'd like you to meet, Charlie. So maybe you could join us?"

"Sure, Dad," Charlie said, shrugging.

"Here, I'll take those," Sam said as she swung the door open wider, gathering the bags Charlie was carrying. She winked at him, smiling and cocking her head toward the living room. "Get in there. I think you're going to want to see who's there."

Charlie stilled. "Is it—"

"Go on," Sam said kindly. "Go find out."

Charlie practically bolted for the door as Sam dodged out of the way. He skidded to a stop, seeing his mother—or at least, Sarah O'Neill—sitting on the couch, talking to Colonel Kawalsky.

"Mom?" he asked in a quiet voice.

His mother turned, as if her whole being were attuned to the sound of her son's voice. Tears welled in her eyes as she rose and crossed the room, not even hesitating as she pulled him into her arms. 

Charlie wrapped his arms around her, holding on for dear life. It had been far too long—more than ten years—since he'd seen his mother. He remembered feeling like it had been his fault that she was gone, no matter what his father or anyone else told him. That he hadn't been a good enough son or student or whatever, and that was the reason she was taken away. It had taken him a lot of time and counseling to realize that it had just been his Mom's time to go. Sam had helped with that, of course, just by being his friend, and being so good to him and his father.

Still, it hadn't changed the fact that he'd missed his mother, and would have given anything to see her again, just once. He didn't think the price was too high, but he did wonder what his life would have been like had he never had the chance to see her again. Because this felt amazing, and was literally the best part of being stranded in another universe.

Sarah pulled back and pressed her hands to his cheeks. "You've grown so much. You're tall, like your father. We always thought you'd be tall like him, but look at you. My little boy, all grown up. Well, not mine, I guess, but—"

"Mom," Charlie said, grabbing her hands and pulling them down between them, squeezing reassuringly. "I may not have been born in this universe, but I'm still your son. You don't know—just, it's so good to have you back. I can't even—"

"Chuck said I'd died in your universe," Sarah said, frowning. "I'm not sure how any of that works, but I know you lost your mother. I'm just hoping we can be… I don't know, friends? Will you let me at least be your friend?"

"You're my mother," Charlie said, his voice breaking. "You can be anything you like, but I'd really like it if you were just my Mom. That's all I really need right now."

Sarah's smile was watery as she reached up and cradled his cheek once again. "I can do that."

This time it was Charlie that pulled her in to a hug. This one was shorter, but no less heartfelt. When he pulled back, she was still crying, but her smile nearly stretched off her face. 

"Come sit down," she said. "Tell me about yourself. Chuck said you went to the Academy, and that you work at the Mountain. I feel like I've missed so much. I mean, I don't know your favorite movie, or what foods you like. Do you have a girlfriend?" She winced. "That's probably a sore topic, so forget I asked. But—"

"Whoa, slow down, Mom," Charlie said. Sarah grinned at him, and he blushed. "I—there is actually someone I'm sort of seeing. She's a cadet at the Academy, but she's slated to graduate next year."

"How on Earth did you meet a cadet?" Sarah asked as they settled on the couch. "How have you had time to meet anyone?"

"Um, she's doing a tour at the Mountain," Charlie said. "Plus, I'd have met her eventually, anyway. She's Sam's adopted daughter, I guess is the right word. Cassie Fraiser. She's probably in the kitchen, if you want to meet her."

"Oh, I definitely want to meet her," Sarah said. "I want to make sure this girl is good enough for you. But let's talk for a bit, first. I want to hear all about your life. The good and the bad."

"How much time have you got?" Charlie said, only partially joking.

"Oh, honey," Sarah said, laying a hand on his arm and squeezing gently. "For you, I have all the time in the world."

~o~


	9. Chapter 9

~o~

Time seemed to fly by, and before he knew it, a month had passed. Jack had thoroughly enjoyed it. He'd spent more time with Sam and Cassie in the last month than probably the whole of the past year, but it was good. He and Sam were taking things slow, because undoing years of careful avoidance and willful ignorance of their feelings wasn't exactly something you did overnight.

Charlie had moved into his house, setting up in the former guest room and adding some much-needed life to the place. That also mean that he'd spent a lot of time with his ex-wife. He'd wondered if spending time with Sarah would rekindle his feelings for her. They'd loved each other very much, once upon a time, and he wasn't sure how that would affect his feelings for Sam.

Turned out, he still loved his ex, but it had become the sort of love one had for a dear friend. He loved how Sarah and Charlie seemed to get on like a house on fire; their relationship seemed to heal both of them in ways Jack didn't need to imagine, knowing first-hand just what kind of gaping hole losing a child could create.

Jack was contemplating what his plans were for the weekend instead of reading AARs like he was supposed to. Somehow, his house had become the unofficial landing spot for various members of his command; on any given weekend, the living room and backyard would be full of SG-2 or 4—which included his son and best friend, whether the rest of the teams were there or not—plus Sam and, occasionally Daniel and Teal'c.

Even their new CMO, Carolyn Lam, had started joining them, though he figured that had more to do with Kawalsky than anything else. They'd become close in the time since Kawalsky and Charlie had arrived, which was surprising considering how allergic to Medical Chuck had always been. Not that he blamed his old friend; Carolyn was a fun person to hang around, and a terrific doctor. He only hoped this thing didn't blow up in their faces. He'd had enough trouble finding a new CMO; he didn't really want to try to find another one so soon if Kawalsky screwed this up.

He'd just have to talk to Kawalsky, warn him what hurting Carolyn would cost him, should it ever happen. Maybe he'd take Teal'c with him for that conversation.

A knock on the door of his office broke him out of his thoughts. Harriman opened the door and poked his head in.

"Come on in, Walter, and tell me of your troubles."

Harriman walked in, and Jack could immediately tell something was wrong. His mental rolodex flipped through the list of teams that were offworld, without having to check the schedule on his computer. His blood ran cold when he realized what might have unsettled the normally-unflappable Walter Harriman.

"SG-2?" he asked. "How long?"

"Sir, they're two hours overdue for check-in," Harriman said. "P3X-443 isn't considered hostile. It was on the list for further exploration as a possible back-up Alpha site."

Jack rested his elbows on his desk, rubbing his hands over his face as he blew out a loud breath. He wasn't capable of not overreacting at this point, so he didn't even try. His son was on SG-2, possibly missing or in danger. What he really wanted to do was go charging through the 'gate, guns blazing. But that wouldn't help anyone, most especially his son.

"Have SG-4 and SG-1 report to the briefing room ASAP, Walter," Jack said, voice shaky. "And get me everything we have on P3X-443, including—"

The other door to his office swung open with barely a cursory knock, Kawalsky pushing through looking agitated. "Hey, Jack, have you heard—"

"Yeah, Walter was just letting me know," Jack said. He was relieved to see Kawalsky was just as concerned about SG-2 being overdue as he was.

"Oh," Kawalsky said. "Well, then."

"I just asked him to get SG-1 and your team up here," Jack said. "How'd you know?"

"Ah, well, I might keep an eye on the schedule when he's offworld and I’m here," Kawalsky said as he rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish blush coloring his cheeks. "I guess I still feel like he's… my responsibility, in a way."

Walter, who'd been watching the back-and-forth, cleared his throat. "I'll just go gather the information you need and let the others know what's going on."

"Thanks, Walter," Jack said. He waved Kawalsky inside. "Might as well wait in the briefing room. Once Walter pages them, I have a feeling they'll show up pretty fast."

He got up and followed Harriman out the door, settling in at the head of the table to wait. As it turned out, it didn't take long. Teal'c, Sam and Daniel appeared within minutes, Teal'c taking his customary spot to Jack's left. Daniel sat beside him while Sam took the seat next to Kawalsky on Jack's right.

The rest of SG-4—minus Hardy, who was on leave—showed up only moments later. 

"What's this all about, sir?" Ferretti asked as his team took seats around the table.

"SG-2 failed to report in two hours ago as scheduled," Jack said without preamble. "What do we know about -443?"

"Walter handed me the brief on my way in here," Sam said. She opened the folder and scanned the information, a frown forming on her face. "Nothing particularly special about this planet, which is why we put it on the list as a potential back-up for the Alpha site. There's a large cave system on the same continent as the 'gate."

"Could they have gotten lost or trapped inside?" Ferretti asked.

"The kid's an accomplished mountain climber," Kawalsky said. 

Jack looked at him, startled. "I—he is?"

"Yeah," Kawalsky said, shrugging. "He's done Rainier, Half Dome. Couple others I've never heard of. He's got a few buddies he climbs with."

"They didn't have any climbing gear with them, did they?" Ferretti asked. "That's not part of the standard kit for offworld exploration."

Before Jack could open his mouth, Sam popped up. "I'll check with the Quartermaster. He'll have a record of all the equipment the team pulled for this mission."

"So, they could be injured or trapped," Daniel said. "Has anyone tried opening the 'gate and radioing them?"

"Standard procedure—"

Jack smirked at Kawalsky, who'd said the same thing at the same time. Kawalsky made a _you take this one_ gesture, so Jack took a deep breath.

"Standard procedure would be to wait until the team is two hours overdue before we attempt a check-in," Jack said. "Which is right about now."

"I called Walter before I called the Quartermaster," Sam said as she sat back down. "Walter activated the 'gate and held it open for two minutes, per procedure. No radio transmissions, but that's not a surprise. He'll do it once more at three hours overdue and then go radio silent until we decide what to do."

"Was he able to connect with the MALP?" Kawalsky asked.

"Yes," Sam said. "But the area around the gate is secure, so it's not Goa'uld. Unless they came in a ship, and we'd have no way of detecting that from the ground without more sophisticated equipment."

"What did the Quartermaster say?" Daniel asked.

"That they were issued the standard mission pack, with survival gear," Sam said. "No climbing gear, but they did check out head lamps and night-vision goggles."

"Seems like they were planning to investigate the caves," Ferretti said.

"That would have been the top priority for that planet," Jack said. "We'd be using it for an Alpha site, so the caves would be our first choice as far as where to build the infrastructure."

"So, now what?" Kawalsky asked. "Do we just wait until they contact us? Send a team in to rescue them?"

"I—" Jack took a deep breath, aware of his heart constricting in his chest. "I can't make that call. He's my son, and while I won't ever leave anyone behind, for any reason, I'm too close to this."

"We get it, Jack," Kawalsky said. "Go lean on Hammond. He'll give you the green light to go after them."

"What's the plan if we do?" Sam asked. "We can't just go in blind."

"Send a UAV through the 'gate," Ferretti said. "We can mount a signal-booster to it, just in case they're trying to radio in and can't cut through whatever interference there might be."

"That would also allow us to survey farther from the 'gate," Sam said. "I mean, they can only go so far on foot, but maybe they counted on being able to radio in when the 'gate activated."

"I'd feel better if we had a -302 in the sky, to be honest," Jack said. 

"You think Hammond would go for it?" Kawalsky asked.

"General Hammond knows how important your son is to you, O'Neill," Teal'c said, speaking for the first time all meeting.

"Plus, we could make a case for close air support, just in case," Ferretti said. "We could use the sensors on the -302 to scan for a mothership in orbit."

"Neither the MALP nor the UAV have that capability, sir," Sam said.

"Alright, I'll go brief Hammond," Jack said, rising from the table. "Meanwhile, you guys game out a plan for how we go rescue our missing team. And factor me in to your plans. I'm not waiting at home while you do all the heavy lifting."

"Wouldn’t expect any less," Kawalsky said.

Jack turned and headed for his office as the rest of the team got down to the business of planning the mission.

~o~

They'd opted to go through the 'gate to the Alpha site, just in case there were Jaffa on -443. The thought alone made Sam cringe; Charlie had become—against all odds and in open defiance of logic—like the son she'd never had. She simply adored him, and knew that Jack wouldn't be the only one devastated by his loss.

Ferretti, Kawalsky and the rest of SG-4, plus Jack and SG-1 had gathered at the Alpha site, awaiting the final go-ahead for the mission. Hammond hadn't hesitated to authorize them to go after SG-2, even not knowing what they were facing. They'd even been authorized to take a -302 on the mission. Having the enhanced scanners and aerial overwatch was reassuring, as was the fact that Hammond had transported to the SGC to mind the store while Jack was on the mission.

Plus, it didn't hurt that the pilot of the -302 stationed at the Alpha site was an old friend of hers. Cameron Mitchell was a fantastic pilot, and once they'd explained what they needed, he was all in. Now, all that remained was the final green light, and they'd be headed for -443.

"What do you see, Mitchell?" Jack asked as the Major flew out over the planet's surface.

"I got a whole lot of nothing," Mitchell said. "Scans indicate no Jaffa on the planet, and no mother ship in orbit. If they were here, they're gone now."

"Are you picking up any life signs?" Daniel asked.

"Lots of small game," Mitchell said. "A few larger animals on this continent. I'm not picking up any—hold on."

"Mitchell?" Jack asked, voice impatient. 

Sam latched on to his bicep, squeezing gently. He glanced at her, gratitude in his eyes. He needed to know he wasn't alone in all this. Even though it had only been a few hours, they were all feeling the strain of worry. Jack most of all, but she'd noticed that Kawalsky was just as worried, which made sense. But they were going to get Charlie back; she just couldn't afford to believe anything else.

"Major Mitchell, report," Jack practically barked.

There was a brief burst of static, and then Mitchell was speaking. "I've got a faint emergency beacon, sir. I'm headed that way now."

"If they were alert enough to activate the beacon, they can't be in too bad of shape," Kawalsky said.

"Sirs, I've got them," Mitchell said just a few seconds later. "They're at the bottom of a ravine. There's something in the ground—some mineral, I'd guess—that's interfering with their radios. But I have visual confirmation that they're all alive. It looks like they've taken some injuries, but I have four positive life signs."

Jack closed his eyes, his whole body slumping with relief. "Thank you, Major. You'll remain on station just in case this planet attracts the wrong kind of attention."

"Because that would just be our luck," Ferretti said, rolling his eyes.

"How do we want to do this?" Kawalsky said. "Sounds like they have injuries. Might be why they couldn't climb back out of the ravine."

"We're going to need ropes and rescue gear," Daniel said. "Plus, a couple of FREDs to transport them if they can't walk out."

"Mitchell, can you tell if anyone's not ambulatory?" Jack asked over the radio.

"I just did a low-altitude pass over their position," Mitchell said. "The radio connection is spotty, but it sounds like at least one of them has a broken leg, plus a couple of broken arms. They're not climbing out by themselves, but it looks like most of them are ambulatory. If you can get them out of the ravine, I'd say three out of four could walk back to the 'gate."

"Alright, thanks," Jack said. "Keep your eyes peeled for anything dangerous, and report back with any changes in conditions we need to know about. And forward the coordinates for the team. We'll be on our way through the 'gate as soon as we have the gear sorted out."

"Yes, sir," Mitchell said.

"Okay, folks, looks like we're going for a walk," Jack said. "Ferretti, take your team and get the gear sorted. We'll leave in 30 minutes."

"Do we know how far the hike is?" Kawalsky asked.

"I've got it," Daniel said as he peered over the shoulder of the tech manning the console. "Looks like it's about five kilometers from the 'gate. According to the MALP, it's mostly flat land. They probably didn't realize there was a ravine until they were on top of it."

"Sergeant," Sam said, coming around the console. "Ask Major Mitchell to download his scans of the area. I think I can build a map of the area based on that data. That'll at least keep us from falling off a cliff."

Thirty minutes later, they were assembled in the 'gate room, the FREDs stacked with everything they thought they'd need and then some. 

"Okay, let's go," Jack said. "Keep your head on a swivel. Just because there are no apparent threats now doesn’t mean they won't pop out of the woodwork at a moment's notice."

"We'll get them, Jack," Sam said.

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "Young O'Neill and his team will be well. Of that I am certain."

"Thanks," Jack said, that pinched look in his eyes letting up just a little.

"Alright, let's go," Sam said. "The MALP readings show midday, so we don't have much time to waste."

All eight turned and moved as one up the ramp and through the 'gate, just like old times.

~o~

High noon on a deserted planet felt like every cliché in the book, but Jack wasn't amused. He was more worried than he cared to admit, but he figured that pretty much everyone who'd walked through the 'gate with him knew that. Getting Charlie back only to lose him on some lonely planet halfway across the galaxy just wasn't an option.

Fortunately, it seemed like Fate was smiling on them. They'd found the ravine easily enough; it actually ran in a slash parallel to the 'gate. Less than an hour after they stepped through the 'gate, they found the spot where it looked like a piece of the ravine wall had given way. 

A quick look through his binoculars showed the path the team took to the bottom. Well, the path they'd fallen down, anyway. Bits of gear—including at least one radio—were strewn along the ravine wall. He could also see, farther off in the distance, where they'd hunkered down to wait for rescue. 

"Looks like this ravine might flood during the rainy season," Daniel said. He pointed to markings on the ravine walls. "See there what looks like a high-water mark? And the walls of the ravine are smoother than you'd expect for a dry area."

"Skies look clear," Kawalsky said, looking up as he shaded his eyes. He thumbed his radio. "Major, you see any weather on the horizon?"

"Matter of fact, there's a stormfront on the move," Mitchell said. "I've been tracking it for the last hour. It's definitely headed your way. I'm no weather man, but it looks like a gully-washer for sure."

"Swell," Ferretti said. "Let's hope it doesn't hit until we're back at the SGC. I hate hiking in the rain."

"Okay, folks, let's get this show on the road," Jack said. He shed his pack and checked the edge of the ravine where they were standing. "Looks like they're set up about a half a klick farther down the ravine. Toomer and Michaels, have a look up that way and see if the ground is more stable than it is here. If not, we'll just have to anchor here and hope for the best."

He got a couple of yes, sirs as the two men from SG-4 headed off to investigate.

"SG-2 Actual, this is SG-4 Actual," Ferretti said as he keyed his radio. "Do you copy?"

There was a burst of static, so Ferretti repeated himself, to no effect.

"Mitchell said there was something in the ground messing with the radios," Kawalsky said.

"There are several worlds such as this that the Goa'uld do not go to," Teal'c said. "The Free Jaffa have learned to make use of these worlds as a result."

"Hmmm," Sam said. "If we could figure out a way to overcome the communications issues, this might actually make a good base of operations. Maybe a Beta site, or offworld research station."

"A question for another day, Carter," Jack said. He didn't want to stomp on her enthusiasm, but they could very easily get distracted and end up just like Reynolds' team. That was the last thing he needed.

Michaels jogged up to them. "Sirs. We think we've found a good spot to set up. There's a small copse of trees about a hundred yards beyond where the team is located. Big-ass—sorry, really big trees that have protected the edge of the ravine wall. We can use the trees to set up the belay for the winch."

"Alright, lead the way," Jack said, waving him forward as he grabbed his pack.

Fifteen minutes later, they'd set up a rope belay and Jack and Kawalsky were preparing to descend the ravine wall. "You ready?" Jack asked.

"Let's go," Kawalsky said, nodding his head.

The two men descended the ravine wall slowly, checking behind them every few feet, making sure they didn't lose their footing. The plan was for the two of them to descend to the ravine floor and make contact with SG-2. Once they'd assessed their condition, Sam and Daniel would join them. Ferretti, Teal'c and the rest of SG-4 would man the ropes and keep their eyes open for any change in the weather, along with Major Mitchell.

It took them mere minutes to reach the ravine floor. They weren't far from where the team had set up a makeshift camp, so a slow jog brought them to the team in minutes.

"Dad!" Charlie called out when they were close enough to make out who was who.

Jack jogged ahead of Kawalsky, pulling his son into a fierce hug. "Jesus, Charlie."

"I'm okay, Dad," Charlie said, though it was muffled where he was pressing his whole face into his father's shoulder.

Jack pulled back and looked over his son. "Are you hurt at all?"

"Bumps and bruises," Charlie said. "I was able to control my fall a bit better. Colonel Reynolds has a broken leg, and Sundstrom messed up his shoulder. I think Markland might have a concussion. He's been in and out for a while now."

Kawalsky jogged up, pulling Charlie into a quick hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, kid. You hear?"

"I got it," Charlie said, smiling through the dirt smudges on his face. "Wasn't planning on scaring you this time, to be fair."

"Right," Kawalsky said. He took a deep breath and turned to Jack. "Sam's on her way down, along with Toomer. He's got some training as a medic, so Daniel figured he'd be more useful."

"Okay," Jack said. "When he gets down here, sounds like his first priority will be Markland. I'll check on Reynolds and Sundstrom, make sure they're okay."

"We think Markland hit his head on a big rock on the way down," Charlie said as they walked over to where Reynolds was sitting against a large boulder. "He was the first to fall; Colonel Reynolds made a grab for him, but it was too late. Then the edge gave way and we were all tumbling down."

"I'm just glad you're okay, kiddo," Jack said, grabbing his son around the shoulders.

"Me too, Dad," Charlie said.

It was a mark of just how relieved he was that he didn't even correct his son's failure to address him by rank. 

"Al," Jack said when they reached the group moments later. He crouched down so the man didn't have to strain his neck looking up. "How you doing?"

"Sir," Reynolds said. "I'd get up, but…"

Jack waved him off. "You can salute to your heart's content when we get back to the Mountain. Charlie tells me it's broken."

"Yep," Reynolds said as he patted his left leg. "Broke the other one when I was twelve. Hurt like a mother that time too. I'm more worried about Markland; he's been in and out for about an hour now."

"Toomer's on his way," Kawalsky said. "He's got field medic training, but it sounds like he's got a concussion at a minimum."

"Good," Reynolds said. "The sooner we can stabilize him, the sooner we can get him to the SGC for treatment."

Jack turned to Sundstrom, who had his arm in a sling. "How about you? Anything beyond the shoulder?"

"Bumps and bruises, same as the others, sir," Luke Sundstrom said. "I had worse during BUDS, so it's nothing I can't handle. I think it's my collar bone that's broken. Same shoulder I blew out with the Teams, too. Bad fucking luck."

"Yeah, well, the teams didn't have me," Sam said as she joined them. She flashed a relieved smile at Charlie, pulling him into a side hug before turning her attention back to Sundstrom. "I can use the Goa'uld healing device to fix most breaks, so you won't have to suffer for long once we get you back to the SGC."

"Well, thank fuck for that," Sundstrom said. "Ma'am."

Sam smirked at him. "Hang in there, Commander. Another couple of hours and we'll have you right as rain."

"We're gonna need someone to carry Markland back to the ropes," Jack said. "What say we get Teal'c down here?"

"I'll head back to the ropes and have him come down, sir," Sam said. "Ferretti and Michaels have the winch set up, so we should be ready whenever you are."

Jack watched her go, suddenly more grateful than words could express for having her in his life. 

"What say we get you guys ready to go?" Jack said. He turned to Reynolds. "You gonna be able to stand up?"

"I'll make it, sir," Reynolds said. "As long as I can lean on you, I should be able to make it back to the ropes."

It only took a few minutes for Teal'c to arrive, assess the situation and hoist Markland into a fireman's carry. Jack and Kawalsky pulled Colonel Reynolds to his feet and slung his arms over both their shoulders. By the time they got back to the ropes, Teal'c had strapped Markland into the rescue basket and was watching as Ferretti and Michaels guided the basket up the incline.

Within twenty minutes, they had the whole team up the ravine wall. Jack wouldn’t breathe easier until they were through the 'gate, but at least the hard part was over. He glanced up at the sky, noticing the dark clouds rolling in at an alarming rate.

"Mitchell," he said, keying his radio. "ETA on that stormfront?"

"It's rolling in fast, sir," Mitchell said. "I'm no expert, but I'd say you have about fifteen minutes before it starts raining."

"Great," Kawalsky said. "And me without my waders."

Jack laughed and slapped Kawalsky on his back. "Are we ready to move out?"

"We're secure, sir," Sam said. "We've got Reynolds and Markland on the FREDs, and all our gear has been stowed. Daniel rigged up a shelter of sorts so they won't get water in their faces during the ride to the 'gate."

"Sounds good. Let's get a move on," Jack said. "We probably won't beat the rain, but let's see if we can avoid getting soaked."

"Yes, sir," Sam said, smiling.

~o~

Kawalsky sat patiently while the medical team moved between the beds, taking blood samples and checking over three times the usual number of post-mission physicals. At least this time, everyone made it back. Some in worse shape than others, but everyone came back, which was a better outcome than some missions he'd been on.

He watched his old friend hovering over Charlie's bed, waiting on the results of the scans and blood tests. Jack had been a wreck on the inside, but outwardly, the man was a rock. Not that Kawalsky himself had been much better, but he probably did a better job of hiding it.

"Okay, Colonel," the nurse said. "You're good to go. Stay out of trouble, okay?"

Kawalsky chuckled. "You do know what we do around here, right?"

The nurse just laughed as she walked away. Kawalsky jumped off the bed and made his way over to Jack and Charlie.

"What's the verdict?" Kawalsky asked. "You gonna live?" Jack turned, a pained look in his eyes. Charlie just shook his head, a smile tipping his lips. "Too soon?" Kawalsky asked.

"Ya think?" Jack asked.

"Hey, he made it back," Kawalsky said, patting him on the shoulder. "We all made it back. Hold on to that, huh?"

Jack let out a deep breath. "Yeah. You're—yeah, okay."

"I really am okay, Dad," Charlie said.

"For once, he's right."

All three men turned to see Carolyn Lam walking up to them, hands in the pockets of her lab coat.

"He checks out fine," Carolyn said when she reached them. "Just bumps and bruises. I'm recommending some ibuprofen for the pain, and a long, hot shower. Plus, a couple of days off rotation wouldn’t hurt, either. Not that the rest of them are going anywhere anytime soon."

"How are they, Doc?" Kawalsky asked.

"Reynolds has a broken leg, and Sundstrom's collar bone is broken, but you already knew that," Carolyn said. "Markland had a hairline fracture of his skull. Sam used the healing device on all three of them. Apart from some lingering soreness, Reynolds and Sundstrom should be back on their feet in a week or so."

"And Markland?" Jack asked.

"We're monitoring him, but so far there's no brain swelling," she said. "We'll keep him for a few days, just to be sure, but it looks like all four of them are going to be just fine."

"Well, that's a relief," Kawalsky said.

"If I prescribed two days' downtime for all three teams, what are the odds you'd actually take it?" Carolyn asked.

Jack tucked his hands in his pockets. "Right now? Probably pretty good."

Kawalsky stared at his friend, shocked. Jack never took time off—at least, not the Jack he knew. Of course, this Jack had only just gotten back his long-dead son, so almost losing him on a mission was sure to mess with him in ways he probably hadn't even realized was possible.

"General Hammond said he'd be happy to stick around for a few more days," Jack said, correctly interpreting Kawalsky's expression. "I'm going to take him up on it. Spend a day or two with Charlie."

"Good idea," Kawalsky said. "Does that go for everyone on the mission, or just those who tumbled down a ravine?"

"Like I could keep you here with Charlie at home," Jack said, shaking his head. "SG-1 and SG-4 are welcome to take a couple of days leave as well. Consider it payment for a job well done."

"Sounds good to me," Kawalsky said with a smile. "I'll pass the word along."

"I've got a few things I need to take care of before I can head out," Jack said. He turned to Charlie and smiled, laying a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "I'm glad you're okay, kiddo. Now, go call your mother. I'm sure she'll want to hear all about your big adventure."

Charlie's eyes got huge. "Do I have to? She's not going to be very happy with me."

"I'm sure you'll handle it fine, Lieutenant," Carolyn said. "Just take it easy for a couple of days, and let me know if anything changes or you start feeling poorly."

"Yes, ma'am," Charlie said.

Carolyn smiled. "I'm not sure whether I should be flattered by the politeness, or insulted that I'm old enough to be called ma'am."

"Go with flattered," Kawalsky said, winking at her.

Carolyn laughed, giving Kawalsky's arm a squeeze before she headed off to see about her other patients.

"Come on, kid," Kawalsky said as Charlie hopped down from the gurney. "Let's get this call out of the way. She's not going to be very happy with any of us, but it's better to be honest with her than lie outright. She can smell a lie from a mile away, even over the phone."

"My mother the lie detector," Charlie said, shaking his head. "Maybe it's a good thing I'm already grown up. At least I don't have to worry about her catching me out after curfew."

"Oh, Charlie," Jack said, coming up on his other side as they walked out of the infirmary. "It's cute that you think your mother will stop mothering you now that you're a grown man."

Kawalsky and Jack just laughed at the horrified look on Charlie's face.

~o~


	10. Chapter 10

~o~

"Here you are," Sam said as she poked her head over the edge of the platform.

Jack glanced over his shoulder, watching as she climbed up the rest of the way. He went back to peering through his telescope while she settled on the lounger he'd finally hauled up there. A bucket of cold beers sat beside the lounge chair, and he heard her crack open a bottle behind him.

"You just going to hide up here drinking beer all night?" she asked.

He sighed, pulling back and leaning against the railing. "I'm not hiding. Per se. Just thinking."

"Deep thoughts?" Sam asked. "Or deep space radar telemetry?"

"Very funny," Jack said sarcastically, but he was chuckling as he said it. 

"So, what are you up here thinking about?" she asked. She tipped her bottle back, taking a long swallow. "You're not thinking about retiring, are you?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "At least, not for a while. Not while Charlie's in the program, anyway."

"Well, that's good to hear," Sam said. "I'd hate to think I'd need to break in a new CO. I've finally got the old one just where I want him."

Jack smiled. "I'm thinking about changing some things at the SGC. Stuff that's probably long overdue, but…"

"But you've been reluctant to change things because you still think of the place as Hammond's," Sam said, finishing his thought.

"Yeah," Jack said. He sighed again. "The truth is, things worked fine under George, but I'm not George. And I need to make changes that'll work best for me."

"General Hammond will understand that," Sam said.

"He does," Jack said.

Sam narrowed her eyes at him. "You've already talked to him about what you want to do."

"Yes, I did," Jack admitted. "I'm the CO, but he's still the head of Homeworld. I didn't want to step on his toes if there were legitimate reasons for the way the SGC is structured."

"And I'll bet he told you, 'You're the CO now, Jack. Do what you think is best.'"

"Pretty much," Jack said.

A cheer went up from somewhere below. Jack glanced that way, but he really couldn’t see much beyond the glow of the firepit dancing on the trees that edged his back yard.

"They sound like they're having fun," Jack said.

"When I left, they were playing soccer by flashlight," Sam said. "Enlisted versus officers. I've heard there's O-Club privileges on the line."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "When the cat's away?"

"Probably," Sam said, shrugging. "But can you blame them? Besides, the betting started long before you retreated up here. They just didn't get around to playing until you left. Too busy eating and drinking and having a good time, I think."

"How did my house become party central?" Jack asked.

Sam's laugh was bright and full of joy. "I have no idea, but are you really complaining? They're happy and content. They like you, and they like the work. I'd say we have a good team, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, we do," Jack said, smiling. "I just wish I knew how they managed to get half the SGC here without me suspecting a thing. Are they using carrier pigeons?"

"You'd be surprised how well the grapevine at the SGC works," Sam said. 

She reached out, wiggling her fingers, beckoning him to join her. He debated that for all of a second before crossing the deck and crawling up into the lounger. He picked up a beer bottle and twisted the top off, taking a long sip as he snuggled into the chair and his girlfriend.

"So, what are these changes you're making?" she asked when he'd pulled her to his chest. "Am I going to like this?"

"Depends," Jack said. "I'm making Al Reynolds 2IC of the base." He paused. "I know you have more time in rank—"

Sam sat up and turned, putting her hand over his mouth. "Stop right there. If I wanted to be 2IC, I'd have already been agitating for it. But I don't. Being 2IC… it's a great opportunity, but it would take me away from my research. And while I'm an Air Force officer, the science has always been the most important part of my job."

"There was a time when you were all about being the best Air Force officer you could be," Jack said. "What's changed?"

"Life, I guess," she said, shrugging. "With Teal'c spending more time with the Free Jaffa, SG-1 hasn't been going out into the field as much. I kind of rediscovered my love of research. I didn't have much else to do with my downtime. Plus, it's given me more time to spend with my colleagues, mentor the younger scientists on the team. It's good—better than I thought it would be."

"You don't miss going through the 'gate?" Jack asked.

"We still go through the 'gate, just not as often," Sam said. "And I'm okay with that."

"Okay," Jack said, drawing out the word. He wasn't sure what to do with that, but he had an idea. "So, you'd be okay if we just… retired SG-1. Or, maybe just retired you guys from regular field duty?"

"What are you thinking?" Sam asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Well," he said, scrambling to put his thoughts in some kind of order. "What if we gave Kawalsky SG-1? He's got the rank, and he used to be the lead on SG-1 in his own universe. That has to count for something. Plus, Mitchell asked to be reassigned to the SGC. We could give him SG-2. He's about due for a promotion anyway. Probably overdue, actually."

Sam smiled. "He's a good officer and a good leader. He'll do fine on SG-2."

"I thought so, or I wouldn't have offered it to him," Jack said.

"You'll leave Charlie on Kawalsky's team?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Jack said on another sigh. "I can't keep him off a team. He's more than earned it, and I know this has been a dream for him. Plus, I trust Kawalsky to watch his back. We'll still need to source two new team members for SG-1, but we just went through a round of promotions so there are some viable candidates out there. I'm sure Kawalsky can find a couple of people who'd be a good fit for his team."

"And what would I be doing in this mythical new SGC?" Sam asked. She snuggled back down beside him. Jack wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he dropped a kiss on her head.

"You'd be doing what you do now," he said. "Well, you'd be in charge of the sciences division, which would give you operational control over most of the research out of Area 51 as well as the SGC. Daniel would have the same control over the Archeology and Linguistics division. So, you wouldn't be bored by any stretch of the imagination. And if you wanted to go out in the field—or were needed for a particular mission—you could be assigned temporarily to whichever 'gate team needed your expertise. The same would go for Daniel and Teal'c."

"And with Teal'c spending more time with the Free Jaffa, it solves the problem of us being a man short," Sam said. "Works for me."

"That's it?" Jack asked, incredulous. "No arguments, no negotiations. Just… really?"

Sam leaned back a little, looking up into his eyes. "Well, I wouldn’t say no to some dinner dates. Don't think I've missed the fact that we have yet to go out on an actual date."

"Shall I write that into your new contract?" Jack asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Throw in a new server farm and you have yourself a deal," Sam said.

Jack threw his head back and laughed. "Done and done."

"Hey, Jack! You gonna hide up there all night?"

Jack pressed another kiss to Sam's head. "Go away, Chuck. I'm hanging out with my girlfriend."

Kawalsky's head popped up over the deck. "You can do that later. They're setting up beer pong. Come help me kick some ass."

"Something you want to tell me, Jack?" Sam asked.

"Remnants of a misspent youth," Jack said.

"If by 'misspent youth' you mean hanging in the barracks on our last tour together at Incirlik," Kawalsky said. "He took _everyone's_ lunch money."

Sam laughed. "I could see that. He's freaky good with anything that deals with angles and trajectories."

"Everyone has to have a hobby," Jack said.

"And here I thought your hobby was stargazing," Sam said. She sat up and scooted off the lounger. "Come on, Jack. I was pretty good at beer pong back in my Academy days. Let's go show 'em how it's done."

Jack watched with an amused smile as Sam descended the ladder and headed over to the table where they'd set up the beer pong. He lowered the bucket with the beer and then followed at a slower pace, content to watch and enjoy the show.

A few months ago, he'd been contemplating retirement. He'd given a lot of years to the Air Force, and more than paid his dues. And then his son and his best friend crashed through the 'gate, invading his life and turning it upside down. Now, he had his son back, and the love of his life by his side. 

There were days when he wondered what he'd have done if none of that had happened, but he easily shrugged that off. He'd gotten a second chance at the life he wanted, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

~Finis


End file.
